THE    Y< 
ALAS  K 


rf 


[See  p   66 

SUDDENLY      IWOIM'INO      TO      HIS      KNEE     HE     FIRED     WITHOUT      LONGER 
HESITATION 


THE 

YOUNG   ALASKANS 


BY 

EMERSON      HOUGH 

AUTHOR  OF 

"THE  STORY  OF  THE  COWBOY" 
"THE  MISSISSIPPI  BUBBLE" 

ETC.       ETC. 


IL'tl'STRATEt) 


HARPER  &  BROTHERS  PUBLISHERS 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

MCM  VI  I  I 


Copyright,  1908,  by  HARI-ER  &  BROTHERS. 

All  r-ifhts  reserved. 
Published  October,  1908. 


MA 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  AT  HOME  IN  ALASKA 1 

II.  AFLOAT  ON  THE  PACIFIC 7 

III.  THE  JOURNEY  TO  THE  NORTH 16 

IV.  LOST  IN  THE  FOG 23 

V.  THE  MISSING  DORY 28 

VI.  ADRIFT  ON  THE  OCEAN 35 

VII.  THE  HUT  ON  THE  BEACH 41 

VIII.  THE  SALMON  RUN 49 

IX.  THE  BIG  BEAR  OF  KADTAK 58 

X.  THE  SAVAGE  REFUGEE 68 

XI.  A  TROUBLESOME  PRISONER 76 

XII.  WAYS  OF  THE  WILDERNESS 80 

XIII.  MAKING  A  LIVING 93 

XIV.  THE  SURPRISE 101 

XV.  THE  WHALE-HUNT Ill 

XVI.  THE  MISSING  PRISONER 122 

XVII.  THE  ALEUT  BOY 126 

XVIII.  UNWELCOME  VISITORS 130 

XIX.  HOPE  DEFERRED 136 

XX.  THE  SILVER-GRAY  Fox 143 

XXI.  AN  ALEUT  GOOSE-HUNT 159 

XXII.  SPORT  WITH  THE  SALMON 170 

XXIII.  AMONG  THE  EAGLES  .  182 


M18528 


CONTENTS 


PAOK 
191 


CHAP. 

XXIV.  AN  ADVENTURE  ON  THE  GULL  ROCKS  . 

XXV.  CRIPPLES'  CASTLE 207 

XXVI.  THE  JOURNEY  AND  THE  STORM    ....  223 

XXVII.  THE  MAN-HUNT 245 

XXVIII.  A  HUNT  FOR  SEA-OTTER 255 

XXIX.  UNCERTAINTY 263 

XXX.  "BLOWN  OUT  TO  SEA!".     ......  271 

XXXI.  THE  SEARCH-PARTY .276 

XXXII.  THE  DESERTED  CAMP      .......  282 

XXXIII.  SAVED!.                                 287 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

SUDDENLY    DROPPING    TO    HIS    KNEE    HE    FIRED 

WITHOUT  HESITATION Frontispiece 

HE  SHIFTED  HIS  GUN  TO  HIS  LEFT  HAND  AND 

HELD  OUT  HIS  RIGHT  WITH  A  SMILE  .  .  .  Facing  p.  102 
THE  ALEUT  BOY  LAUNCHED  HIS  MISSILE  INTO 

THE  MASS  OF  FLYING  FOWL "  164 

BOTH  OTTER  AND  ARROW  HAD  DISAPPEARED, 

BUT  THE  ALEUT  SAT  WAITING  GRIMLY    .  "          260 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 


THE    YOUNG  ALASKANS 


AT  HOME   IN   ALASKA 

STEAMBOAT!  Steamboat!" 
Rob  Mclntyre  had  been  angling  for  cod 
fish  at  the  top  of  Valdez  dock  for  the  past  half- 
hour.  Now,  hearing  the  hoarse  boom  of  the 
ocean  vessel's  whistle  out  in  the  fog-bank  which 
covered  the  mouth  of  the  harbor,  he  pulled  in  his 
fishing-line,  hurriedly  threw  together  his  heap  of 
flapping  fish,  and,  turning,  sent  shoreward  the  cry 
always  welcome  to  dwellers  in  Alaska  coast  towns. 
" Steamboat!  Steamboat!"  Some  one  at  the 
freight  office  on  Valdez  dock  heard  him  and  re 
peated  the  cry.  Again  and  again  it  was  passed 
from  one  to  another  along  the  half-mile  of  high 

sidewalk  which  led  from  the  dock  to  the  town. 

i 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

Soon  in  every  corner  of  the  streets  of  Valdez  there 
resounded  the  call:  "  Steam  boat!  Steamboat!" 

Now  there  came  to  the  ears  of  all  the  low,  hoarse 
boom  of  the  steamer's  whistle.  The  great  vessel 
was  lying  out  somewhere  in  the  fog,  nosing  her 
way  in  carefully,  taking  care  not  to  touch  any  of 
the  hidden  rocks  which  line  the  Alaskan  shores. 
The  residents  of  the  town  poured  out  from  dwell 
ing  and  gh&p  alike,  and  soon  the  streets  were 
f  ail,:  aknost  the.  entire  population  hurrying  over 
tlie  long  trestle  to'the  dock  where  the  boat  must 
land.  The  whistle  said  to  them  that  there  were 
now  at  hand  cargoes  of  goods  for  the  merchants, 
machinery  for  the  new  railroad  building  inland, 
necessities  and  luxuries  for  every-day  life,  and, 
best  of  all,  letters,  books  and  papers  from  the 
outside  world.  "Outside"  in  an  Alaskan  coast 
town  means  the  United  States.  Across  the  range 
of  mountains  which  fence  off  the  coast  from  the 
vast  interior  " outside"  means  the  coast  itself; 
just  as  to  any  town  dweller  of  the  Alaska  coast 
" inside"  means  somewhere  in  the  icy  interior, 
vast  and  unexplored. 

Among  the  first  to  hasten  down  the  long  walk 
from  the  main  street  of  the  town  were  two  friends 
of  Rob  Mclntyre — Jesse  Wilcox  and  John  Hardy, 

the  former  ten  and  the  latter  twelve  years  of  age, 

2 


AT    HOME    IN    ALASKA 

each  therefore  a  little  younger  than  Rob,  who  him 
self  was  now  nearly  fourteen.  These  boys  might 
be  called  young  Alaskans,  for  although  the  town 
of  Valdez  itself  was  not  more  than  a  few  years  old, 
their  fathers  had  helped  found  the  town  and  were 
prominent  in  its  business  affairs.  Mr.  Hardy  was 
engaged  in  railway  contracts  on  the  new  railroad, 
and  Mr.  Wilcox  was  chief  of  engineers  on  the  same 
road.  Rob's  father,  Mr.  Mclntyre,  owned  the 
leading  store,  where  all  sorts  of  articles  were  sold, 
from  shovels  and  picks  to  needles  and  pins.  The 
three  boys,  it  need  not  be  said,  were  great  cronies, 
and  many  was  the  hour  of  sport  they  had  had 
here  in  far-away  Alaska. 

" Hello,  Rob!"  called  John,  as  he  hurried  up; 
"how  many  fish  did  you  get?  What  boat's  that, 
do  you  think?  Do  you  suppose  my  uncle  Dick's 
on  board?" 

"Hope  so,"  rejoined  Rob,  now  rolling  up  his 
fishing-line,  and  again  kicking  his  codfish  out  of 
the  road  of  the  gathering  crowd.  "He's  probably 
got  something  for  us  if  he  is." 

"How  far  is  she  out?"  inquired  Jesse.  "She 
blows  like  the  Yucatan,  but  maybe  she's  the  old 
Portland  coming  in." 

"If  she's  the  Portland  my  father  might  be 
aboard,"  said  John.  "If  it's  the  Yucatan,  and 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 
Uncle  Dick's  coming,  then  we'll  get  my  new  rifle, 


sure." 


"One  apiece,  then,"  said  Rob.  "If  each  of  us 
had  a  gun  we  could  all  go  hunting  together." 

"Pack-train  just  came  across  the  divide  yes 
terday,"  said  Jesse,  "and  they  had  four  bear-skins. 
They  got  'em  less  than  thirty  miles  inland.  The 
fellow  that  killed  them  threw  away  two  skins 
because  they  were  so  heavy  he  didn't  want  to 
bother  to  pack  'em.  But  I  don't  suppose  they'd 
let  us  go  bear-hunting  yet,"  said  Jesse,  hesitat 
ingly. 

"The  biggest  bear  in  this  whole  country,"  be 
gan  Rob,  who  was  posted  on  such  matters,  "are 
over  toward  Kadiak  Island.  "I  heard  a  trader 
from  Seldovia  saying  there  were  a  few  sea-otters 
over  there,  too." 

"Wouldn't  you  like  to  go  over  to  Kadiak — just 
once?"  said  John.  "A  big  bear-skin  or  two,  and 
maybe  a  sea-otter  —  we  could  cash  in  our  fur  for 
enough  to  buy  a  mining  claim,  like  enough!  My 
uncle  Dick's  due  to  go  over  there,  too,  before 
long,"  he  ruminated.  "You  know  he's  employed 
on  the  government  survey,  and  they're  making 
soundings  on  that  part  of  the  coast." 

Rob  drew  a  long  breath.  "Well,  maybe  some 
time  we  could  get  over  there,"  he  said;  and  the 

4 


AT    HOME    IN    ALASKA 

others  nodded,  because  they  had  come  to  look 
on  him  as  something  of  a  leader  in  their  out-door 
expeditions. 

"Priddy  soon  dat  fog  shall  lift/'  remarked  Ole 
Petersen,  an  old  sailor  who  was  lounging  about 
the  dock.  He  nodded  toward  the  mouth  of  the 
harbor,  where  now  all  could  see  the  heavy  veil 
of  mist  growing  thinner.  Little  by  little,  even 
as  the  steady  boom  of  the  steamer's  whistle  came 
echoing  in,  the  front  of  the  fog-bank  thinned  and 
lifted,  showing  the  white-capped  waves  rolling  be 
neath.  Suddenly  a  strong  shift  of  wind  descend 
ed  from  the  canon  between  two  of  the  many 
mountain-peaks  which  line  the  bay,  and  broke  the 
fog  into  long  ribbons  of  white  vapor.  The  sun 
shone  through,  and  its  warmth  sent  the  white 
mist  up  in  twisting  ropes,  which  faded  away  in 
the  upper  air.  At  last  there  came  into  view  the 
red-topped  smoke-stacks  and  the  gaunt,  dark 
hull  of  the  great  ocean  steamer,  whose  funnels 
poured  forth  clouds  of  black  smoke  which  drifted 
toward  the  farther  shore  of  the  bay. 

"Yucatan!"  sang  out  Rob — and  Ole  Petersen 
calmly  seconded  him  with  a  nod — "Yucatan!" 

The  gathered  population  of  Valdez — men,  wom 
en,  children,  and  dogs — greeted  the  vessel  with  a 
general  outcry  of  welcome. 

5 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"In  she  comes,"  said  Rob;  and  now,  with  two 
more  long,  hoarse  roars  from  her  giant  whistle, 
the  Yucatan  slowly  forged  ahead,  and  within  half 
an  hour  majestically  swept  up  to  her  moorings  at 
the  front  of  Valdez  dock. 


II 

AFLOAT   ON   THE    PACIFIC 

AS  the  deck-hands  cast  ashore  the  light  lines 
-LA.  attached  to  the  cable  -  loops,  our  young 
friends  were  among  the  first  to  lay  hold  and  aid 
in  dragging  ashore  the  heavy  cables  which  made 
fast  the  steamer  to  the  dock-posts.  Then  they 
ran  back  amidships  where  the  gang-plank  was 
put  out.  The  jingling  of  the  ship's  bells  and 
general  outcry  from  those  on  the  dock  or  crowd 
ing  along  the  rail  of  the  vessel  made  everything 
a  scene  of  confusion.  Greetings  were  passed 
from  ship  to  shore  and  back  again.  Friends 
now  would  meet,  cargo  would  be  discharged; 
touch  with  the  outer  world  once  more  would 
be  had. 

"But  I  don't  see  Uncle  Dick  anywhere,"  said 
John,  ruefully,  as  he  examined  the  throng  of 
figures  packed  along  the  rail  waiting  for  the  gang 
way  to  be  made  fast. 

"Maybe  he  didn't  come,"  suggested  Jesse. 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"There  he  is!"  shouted  John;  "he's  waving 
to  us,  over  there  'midships." 

"He's  got  something  under  his  arm,"  said  Rob, 
judicially. 

A  tall,  brown-faced  man  with  a  wide,  white  hat 
and  loose  gray  clothing  edged  his  way  toward  the 
head  of  the  gangway.  Catching  sight  of  the  boys, 
he  called  out  a  hearty  greeting. 

"Have  you  got  it,  Uncle  Dick?"  asked  John, 
excitedly,  as  at  last  the  latter  reached  the  dock. 

Uncle  Dick's  answer  was  to  pass  to  his  nephew 
a  certain  long  package,  which  proved  to  be  a  fine 
rifle  in  a  leather  case.  For  the  moment  all  three 
boys  were  so  much  engaged  in  examining  this 
that  they  paid  little  attention  to  what  was  going 
on — hurry  and  confusion,  shouting  and  laugh 
ing  and  excited  talk,  mingled  with  the  creak  of 
the  hoists  and  the  rattle  of  the  donkey-engine  as 
the  ship's  men  now  began  the  work  of  discharg 
ing  the  cargo  of  the  Ywatan.  It  must  be  remem 
bered  that  in  Alaska  few  things  are  manufactured, 
and  everything  must  be  shipped  in,  fifteen  hun 
dred  miles  or  more,  from  San  Francisco,  Seattle, 
and  other  points. 

"Well,  young  gentlemen,"  said  Uncle  Dick,  at 
last,  "you  seem  gladder  to  see  that  gun  than  you 
are  to  see  me." 

8 


AFLOAT    ON    THE    PACIFIC 

"No,  we're  not,  sir,"  rejoined  Rob;  "but  we're 
pleased  enough,  even  so,  because  now  each  of  us 
has  a  rifle." 

"And  no  place  to  use  one,"  answered  Uncle 
Dick. 

"Well,  we  may  be  able  to  go  inside,  hunting, 
before  long,"  said  Jesse,  stoutly.  "My  father 
doesn't  care  if  I  go  with  him." 

"How  would  you  like  to  go  over  to  Kadiak  with 
me?"  asked  Uncle  Dick,  directly,  looking  at  them 
keenly  from  his  gray  eyes. 

"You  don't  mean  it!"  exclaimed  Rob.  The 
three  gathered  round  him. 

"Are  you  going  over  there  right  away?"  asked 
Jesse,  staring  up  at  him. 

Uncle  Dick  nodded.  "Same  boat,"  he  an 
swered.  "I'm  going  on  with  the  Yucatan  to 
Seward,  and  will  take  the  Nora  from  there  to 
Kadiak.  Chance  of  your  life  to  spend  the  sum 
mer,  if  your  mothers  will  say  the  word.  And 
not  to  hurry  you  any,  you've  got  just  about  an 
hour  and  a  quarter  to  get  ready — that  is  to  say, 
to  get  consent  and  get  ready  both." 

The  three  boys  hardly  stopped  to  hear  the  last 
of  his  words.  They  were  off,  running  at  top 
speed  across  the  long  sidewalk  toward  the  town. 
Uncle  Dick  followed  them  at  his  leisure,  talking 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

and  telling  the  news  to  his  acquaintances,  of 
whom  he  had  many  in  the  town.  He  explained 
to  these  that  the  government  work  in  soundings 
would  be  done  by  the  revenue  cutter  Bennington, 
along  the  shores  of  Kadiak  Island,  for  the  next 
four  months.  Now,  although  to  those  unfamiliar 
with  Alaska,  Valdez  may  seem  as  far  away  as 
Kadiak,  the  latter  really  is  some  hundreds  of  miles 
farther  to  the  northwest,  and  near  the  base  of 
that  long  peninsula  which  tapers  to  a  point  in  the 
Aleutian  Islands.  A  dweller  in  a  coast  town  in 
Alaska  knows  what  goes  on  immediately  about 
him.  There  were  few  in  Valdez  who  knew  more 
of  Kadiak  than  they  did  of  Kamchatka. 

"G'long  there,  ye  young  rascals!7'  called  out  a 
hearty  voice  at  the  fleeing  boys.  Captain  John 
Ryan  waved  a  cap  toward  them  as  he  came 
down  the  gang-plank.  But  the  boys,  usually 
ready  enough  to  visit  with  him  on  his  stops  at 
Valdez,  were  now  too  much  excited  to  more  than 
wave  their  hands  as  they  disappeared. 

"So  ye're  plannin'  to  take  the  rascals  along  with 
us,  west,  are  ye?"  asked  Captain  John  Ryan  of 
Uncle  Dick.  "A  summer  out  there  would  be  the 
makin'  of  the  youngsters." 

Uncle  Dick's  eyes  wrinkled  in  a  smile  as  he  and 
the  sturdy  sea-captain  started  on  down  and  walk- 
10 


AFLOAT    ON    THE    PACIFIC 

ed  to  the  town.  At  the  farther  end  they  were 
met  by  the  three  boys  and  by  three  nice-looking 
ladies,  each  prosperous-looking  and  well  dressed, 
and  each  bearing  a  very  anxious  expression  of 
countenance. 

"I  tell  you  it's  absolutely  absurd,  Richard," 
began  one  of  these,  as  they  approached — "your 
putting  such  notions  into  the  heads  of  these  boys." 

"It's  all  utterly  impossible,  of  course,"  said 
Rob's  mother,  in  turn,  her  mouth  closing  tightly 
as  she  looked  around  at  her  son. 

Mrs.  Wilcox  said  less,  but  kept  her  hand  on 
Jesse's  shoulder.  "What  would  you  do  at  night 
with  no  one  to  see  you  safe  in  bed,  my  son?" 
said  she,  at  length. 

"Oh,  mother!"  began  Jesse,  shamefacedly. 

"I'll  take  care  of  the  boys,"  said  Uncle  Dick, 
at  length.  "I  won't  mollycoddle  them,  and 
they  will  have  to  shift  for  themselves,  but  I'll 
see  that  they  get  through  all  right.  Think  it 
over,  good  people.  It  will  be  the  making  of  the 
kids." 

"Oh,  well  now,  Richard,"  began  Mrs.  Hardy, 
once  more,  "how  do  we  know  when  you  are  com 
ing  back?" 

"You  don't  know.     I  don't  know  myself." 

"But  these  boys  have  to  go  to  school." 
11 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"Oh,  I'll  get  them  back  in  time  for  the  fall 
term.  Boats  are  coming  down  from  Kadiak 
every  month  or  so." 

"But  they  say  the  storms  out  that  way  are 
perfectly  frightful/'  began  Mrs.  Mclntyre. 

"  We'll  not  be  in  any  storms.  The  cutter  Ben- 
nington  anchors  in  the  harbors,  and,  besides,  the 
boys  will  be  ashore  in  town  at  Kadiak.  You 
don't  suppose  that  Uncle  Sam  will  let  me  have 
them  around  underfoot  all  the  time,  do  you?  I'll 
have  something  else  to  do." 

"But  what  could  the  boys  do,  then?"  inquired 
Mrs.  Mclntyre. 

"Nothing  much.  Hunt  seals  and  otters  and 
whales  and  bears,  and  a  few  little  things  like 
that — catch  more  codfish  and  salmon  than  they 
ever  thought  of  around  here — go  boat-riding  with 
the  Aleuts—" 

"In  those  tippy  bidarkas?" 

"Tippy  bidarkas,"  nodded  Uncle  Dick;  "and 
go  egg-hunting  on  the  gull  rocks,  and  all  sorts  of 
things.  Why,  they'd  have  the  time  of  their  lives, 
that's  all." 

"But  not  one  of  the  boys  has  a  father  at  home 
now  to  advise  in  the  matter,"  hesitated  Jesse's 
mother.  "They  are  all  inside,  and  won't  be  back 
for  a  week." 

12 


AFLOAT    ON    THE    PACIFIC 

" They '11  all  be  back  just  a  week  too  late/'  an 
swered  Uncle  Dick.  "In  about  three-quarters  of 
an  hour  from  now,  as  Captain  Ryan  here  will 
advise  you,  we  start;  and  these  boys,  I  think, 
will  be  on  board  the  Yucatan  headed  for  Kadiak. 
You  want  to  remember  that  this  is  Alaska,  and 
that  these  are  Alaskan  boys.  They've  got  to  grow 
up  knowing  how  to  take  care  of  themselves  in  this 
country.  They're  not  sissies,  with  red  morocco 
shoes  and  long  yellow  curls — they're  the  stuff 
we've  got  to  make  men  out  of  up  here.  How'd 
Alaska  ever  have  been  found,  in  the  first  place,  if 
there  hadn't  been  real  men  raised  from  real  boys?" 

"Oh,  well!"  began  Mrs.  Mclntyre;  and  each 
of  the  other  ladies  echoed,  "Oh,  well!" 

"Oh,  wea!"  echoed  Uncle  Dick.  "I'll  tell  you 
what:  you  had  better  hurry  back  home  and 
get  their  blankets  rolled,  and  an  extra  pair  of 
shirts  and  some  spare  socks  thrown  together. 
And,  boys,  the  best  thing  you  can  do  is  to  go  down 
to  the  store  and  get  some  ammunition.  We  can 
get  all  the  grub  we  want  from  the  ship's  stores 
out  at  Kadiak.  Now,  excuse  me,  ladies,  but  don't 
take  my  time  arguing  this  matter,  because  I've 
got  several  things  to  do;  and  the  boat's  going  to 
start  inside  of  an  hour,  and  we're  going  to  start 
with  her!" 

13 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

Sure  enough,  when  at  last  the  heavy  boom  of 
the  Yucatan's  warning  whistle  caused  the  window 
glass  along  the  main  street  to  tremble,  a  little 
party  once  more  wended  its  way  down  the  side 
walk  toward  the  wharf.  Uncle  Dick  led  the  way, 
earnestly  talking  with  three  very  grave  and  anx 
ious  mothers.  Behind  him,  perfectly  happy,  and 
shouting  excitedly  to  one  another,  came  Rob, 
Jesse,  and  John.  Each  carried  a  rifle  in  its  case, 
and  each  looked  excitedly  now  and  then  at  the 
wagon  which  was  carrying  their  bundles  of  lug 
gage  to  the  wharf. 

''All  aboard!"  called  the  mate  at  the  head  of 
the  gang-plank,  laying  hold  of  the  side  lines  and 
waiting  to  pull  it  in.  Again  came  the  heavy 
whistle  of  the  ocean  steamer.  The  little  group 
now  broke  apart;  and  in  a  moment  the  boys, 
somewhat  sobered  now,  were  waving  their  fare 
wells  to  the  mothers,  who  stood,  anxious  and  tear 
ful,  on  the  dock. 

"Cast  off,  there!"  came  the  hoarse  order  from 
the  captain's  bridge. 

"Ay,  ay,  sir!"  rejoined  the  mate,  repeating 
the  command  to  the  dock  hands.  Slowly  the 
great  propeller  began  to  churn  the  green  water 
astern  into  white.  The  bow  of  the  great  vessel 
slowly  swung,  and  majestically  she  headed  on  her 
14 


AFLOAT    ON    THE    PACIFIC 

way  out  to  the  mouth  of  the  bay.  Clouds  of  white 
gulls  followed  her,  dipping  and  soaring.  Once 
more  her  whistle  saluted  the  town  from  which 
she  departed,  its  note  echoing  deeply  from  the 
steep  fronts  of  the  adjacent  mountains.  The 
wheelsman  laid  the  course  straight  for  the  mouth 
of  the  gap  between  the  outer  mountains  which 
marked  the  mouth  of  the  bay.  In  less  than  an 
hour  the  bold  headlands  were  passed.  Beyond 
rolled  the  white-topped  swells  of  the  sea,  across 
which  lay  none  might  tell  how  much  of  advent 
ure. 

"Now,"  said  Rob,  turning  to  his  friends,  "may 
be  we'll  see  something  of  the  world." 


Ill 

THE  JOURNEY  TO  THE  NORTH 

THE  good  ship  Yucatan  steadily  ploughed  her 
way  along  the  rock -bound  Alaskan  coast 
until;  at  noon  of  the  second  day,  she  nosed  her 
way  into  the  entrance  of  that  great  indentation 
of  the  coast  known  as  Resurrection  Bay,  and 
finally  concluded  her  own  northbound  journey 
at  the  docks  of  the  town  of  Seward,  which  lies 
at  the  head  of  that  harbor.  Here  the  voyagers 
were  to  change  to  a  smaller  vessel,  the  sturdy 
little  craft  called  the  Nora,  which  was  to  carry 
them  still  farther  northward  and  westward.  The 
young  travellers,  although  before  this  they  had 
known  Alaska  to  be  a  great  country,  now  began 
to  think  that  they  had  not  dreamed  how  large 
it  really  was,  for  Uncle  Dick  advised  them  that 
they  would  need  to  steam  almost  a  week  yet 
farther  before  they  could  arrive  at  Kadiak  harbor. 
Once  out  of  Resurrection  Bay  on  their  journey 
to  the  farther  north,  they  began  to  see  sights 

16 


THE   JOURNEY    TO    THE    NORTH 

strange  even  to  them,  long  as  they  had  been  used 
to  Alaska.  Hundreds  of  sea-lions  crowded  some 
lofty  rocks  not  far  beyond  the  entrance  to  the 
bay,  roaring  and  barking  at  the  ship  as  she 
steamed  close  in  to  the  rocks,  and  plunging  off 
in  scores  as  the  whistles  of  the  boat  aroused 
and  frightened  them  from  their  basking  in  the 
sun. 

Rob's  eyes  proved  keener  than  those  of  his 
friend,  and  he  was  always  looking  out  across  the 
sea  in  search  of  some  strange  object. 

" What's  that,  Mr.  Dick?"  he  exclaimed,  after 
he  had  been  gazing  steadily  at  the  far  horizon 
for  some  moments. 

Uncle  Dick  hastened  to  his  state-room  and  re 
turned  with  a  pair  of  field-glasses. 

"That,"  said  he,  "is  a  whale — in  fact,  more 
than  one;  indeed,  I  think  there  is  a  big  school 
of  whales  on  ahead.  We'll  run  almost  square 
into  them  at  this  rate." 

Sure  enough,  within  the  hour  they  came  within 
plain  sight  of  a  number  of  great  black  objects 
which  at  first  seemed  like  giant  logs  rolling  on 
the  water.  All  at  once  there  appeared  splashes 
of  white  water  among  the  whales,  and  the  latter 
seemed  to  be  much  agitated,  hastening  hither 
and  thither  as  though  in  fear.  Captain  Zim  Jones, 

17 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

of  the  Nora,  leaned  down  from  his  place  on  the 
bridge. 

" School  of  killers  in  there!"  he  sang  out. 

" That's  right,"  exclaimed  Uncle  Dick,  hand 
ing  the  glasses  to  Rob.  "Watch  close  now! 
Don't  you  see  those  smaller  black  things  swim 
ming  along,  with  tall,  upright  fins?  Those  are 
killers,  and  they  are  fighting  the  whales  right 
now!" 

Eagerly  the  boys  took  turns  with  the  glasses, 
watching  the  strange  combat  of  the  sea  now  going 
on.  Evidently  some  of  the  whales  were  much 
distressed;  one  large  one  seemed  to  be  the  especial 
mark  of  the  enemy,  which  pursued  him  in  a  body. 

* '  Look,  look !"  cried  John.  ' '  He  j  umped  almost 
out  of  the  water.  He  is  as  big  as  a  house!" 

"I  didn't  know  anything  could  hurt  a  whale, 
he's  so  big!"  commented  Jesse.  "How  do  they 
fight  a  whale?" 

"Maybe  they  poke  'em  with  that  big  fin,"  said 
Uncle  Dick.  "But  they  do  the  damage  with 
their  jaws.  One  of  them  will  bite  a  chunk  out 
of  a  whale,  and  as  quick  as  he  lets  go  another  will 
take  his  place.  They  come  pretty  near  to  eating 
the  whale  alive  sometimes,  although  I  don't  know 
that  they  really  kill  them  very  often." 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  said  Rob,  who  was  look- 
is 


THE    JOURNEY    TO    THE    NORTH 

ing  steadily  ahead.  "There  is  one  right  ahead 
of  us  who  just  came  up,  and  he's  acting  mighty 
stupid.  See,  he's  coming  right  across  the  bows. 
If  we  don't  look  out  we'll  hit  him.  There!" 

Even  as  he  spoke  there  came  a  heavy  jar  which 
almost  stopped  the  ocean  vessel.  Her  steel-shod 
bow  had  struck  the  whale  full  in  the  middle  of 
the  body. 

"  Caught  him  square  amidships,"  sung  out  Cap 
tain  Zim  from  his  station.  "I  guess  we  finished 
what  the  killers  began!" 

The  great  creature  lay  for  an  instant  stunned 
on  the  surface  of  the  water,  its  vast  body  bent  as 
though  its  back  were  broken.  Then  as  the  ship 
passed  on  it  slowly  sank  from  sight,  even  as  the 
school  of  whales,  diving  and  breaching,  also  fell 
astern,  still  pursued  by  their  savage  enemies. 

"Well,"  said  Captain  Zim,  "I've  sailed  these 
waters  thirty  years,  but  that's  the  first  time  I 
ever  struck  a  whale." 

"I've  promised  these  boys  plenty  of  exciting 
things,"  commented  Uncle  Dick.  "But  if  you 
don't  mind,  I'd  rather  you  wouldn't  run  over  any 
more  whales.  You'll  be  taking  the  keel  out  of 
this  ship  the  first  thing  you  know." 

"I  see  something  else!"  called  Jesse,  who  was 
examining  the  rolling  sea  studiously  with  the 

19 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

field-glasses.  "See  it  —  right  over  there  about 
two  hundred  yards!  It  looks  like  a  man  stand 
ing  up  in  the  water." 

"Oh,  that,"  said  Uncle  Dick;  "it's  only  a  seal." 

"Couldn't  I  shoot  it?"  asked  Rob.  "I'd  like 
to  get  its  fur." 

Uncle  Dick  laughed.  "You  wouldn't  find  its 
hide  worth  more  than  a  dollar  or  so,  if  you  got 
it,"  said  he.  "That's  only  a  little  hair  seal.  You 
won't  find  any  fur  seals  until  you  get  a  good 
many  hundred  miles  beyond  Kadiak.  And  that's 
a  good  many  hundred  miles  yet  from  here.  Let 
the  little  fellow  go,  and  turn  the  glasses  on  that 
big  bunch  of  whale- birds  over  there.  See  them 
flying — there's  a  string  nearly  a  mile  long." 

"I  see  them!  I  see  them!"  called  out  Rob. 
"There  are  thousands  and  thousands  of  them. 
I've  seen  them  before,  and  one  of  the  sailors  told 
me  that  there  is  always  most  of  them  where  there 
are  whales  around.  They  seem  to  feed  on  the 
same  sort  of  things  in  the  water,  someway." 

"There  are  plenty  of  things  you  see  up  in  this 
country,"  said  Uncle  Dick,  as  he  turned  away. 
"You  may  have  thought  Valdez  was  pretty  much 
all  of  Alaska,  but  I'll  show  you  it  is  just  the  be 
ginning." 

"  Do  they  have  shipwrecks  up  here,  Uncle  Dick  ?" 
20 


THE    JOURNEY    TO    THE    NORTH 

asked  John.  "It  looks  to  me  pretty  rocky  along 
these  shores." 

"Don't  talk  about  shipwrecks!"  replied  his 
uncle.  "This  coast  is  full  of  them.  I  can  show 
you  the  skeletons  of  four  ships  within  two  hours' 
sail  of  Kadiak,  and  how  many  small  boats  go 
ashore,  never  to  be  heard  of,  no  man  can  tell. 
There  are  big  ships  lost,  too,  up  and  down  this 
coast.  Last  year  the  natives  below  Kadiak 
brought  in  casks  and  boxes  and  all  kinds  of  things 
bearing  the  name  of  the  steamer  Oregon.  She 
was  wrecked  far  to  the  south  of  Valdez,  but  the 
Japan  Current  carried  her  wreckage  a  thousand 
miles  to  the  north  and  west,  and  threw  it  on  the 
coast  of  Kadiak  and  the  smaller  islands  west  of 
there.  It  made  the  natives  rich,  they  found  so 
much  in  the  way  of  supplies." 

"Are  there  any  bears  out  there?"  asked  Jesse, 
wonderingly. 

"Biggest  in  the  world!"  replied  Uncle  Dick. 
"You'd  better  keep  away  from  them.  We're  sail 
ing  now  just  south  of  the  great  Kenai  Peninsula 
of  Alaska.  There's  bears  over  there,  but  mostiy 
black  ones.  Plenty  of  moose  and  caribou  in  these 
mountains,  and  once  in  a  while  a  grizzly,  but  the 
biggest  grizzlies  are  the  brown  bears  of  Kadiak 
and  the  peninsula  on  beyond." 

21 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

Rob  was  silent  for  a  time,  but  at  last  remarked : 
"From  what  I  hear  of  this  Kadiak  country,  I 
believe  we're  going  to  like  it.  When  '11  we  get 
there?" 

Uncle  Dick  smiled.  "Oh,  sometime  within  a 
week,"  he  answered.  "Distances  are  long  up 
here,  and  wind  and  tide  have  something  to  do 
with  even  a  steamer's  speed." 


IV 

LOST   IN   THE   FOG 

SURE  enough,  it  took  five  days  more  of 
steady  steaming  before  the  Nora  approached 
the  shores  of  far-off  Kadiak  Island.  In  the  night 
time  the  boys  heard  the  steamer's  whistle  going, 
and  knew  that  Captain  Zim  was  sounding  the 
echoes  to  get  his  bearings  in  the  thick  weather 
then  prevailing.  Sea-captains  on  those  shores, 
when  the  fog  is  thick,  keep  the  whistle  going,  and 
when  they  hear  the  echoes  from  the  rocks  too 
plainly  they  make  outward  to  the  open  sea. 

The  Nora  crawled  down  the  coast  of  Afognak 
Island  in  the  fog  and  the  dark,  but  finally  cast 
her  anchor  as  near  as  could  be  told  off  the  en 
trance  to  the  narrow  channel  of  Kadiak  Harbor. 
Here  she  sounded  her  whistle  for  more  than  an 
hour  at  short  intervals,  waiting  for  a  pilot  to 
come  out.  At  last,  soon  after  those  on  board 
had  finished  breakfast,  they  heard  the  sound  of 
oars  out  in  the  fog  and  a  rough  voice  calling 

3  23 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

through  a  megaphone:  " Steamer  ahoy!  What 
boat  is  that?" 

11  Nora,  from  Valdez,"  answered  Captain  Zim. 
"Are  you  the  pilot?" 

"Ay,  ay!"  came  the  voice  through  the  fog. 

"Come  on  board — this  way!"  called  Captain 
Zim;  and  once  more  the  hoarse  whistle  of  the 
steamer  boomed  out  into  the  fog. 

Needless  to  say,  the  three  boys  now  were  on 
deck,  and  they  leaned  over  the  rail  as  there  ap 
peared  at  the  foot  of  the  rope-ladder  a  big  dory 
with  two  native  oarsmen,  and  a  stout,  grizzled 
man,  whom  the  ship's  company  announced  to  be 
Pete  Piamon,  the  pilot  for  that  coast. 

"How  are  you,  Pete?"  said  Captain  Zim.  "Can 
we  take  her  in?  I'm  late  and  in  an  awful  hurry." 

Pete  grinned.  "All  the  time  you  ban  in  awful 
hurry,  Captain  Zim.  Dis  fog  awful  tick.  Yas,  we 
shall  take  her  in  if  you  say  so — and  maybe  so  pile 
her  up  on  de  rock.  You  don'  min'  dat,  eh?" 

"Where's  the  revenue-cutter  Bennington  lying, 
Pete?"  asked  Uncle  Dick. 

"Inside,  beyond  de  town."  Pete  jerked  a 
thumb  over  his  shoulder. 

"I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do,  captain,"  said  Uncle 
Dick.  "I'm  in  a  big  hurry  to  report  to  my 
commanding  officer  on  the  Bennington,  for  he's  no 

24 


LOST    IN    THE    FOG 

doubt  been  lying  here  two  or  three  days  waiting 
for  us.  You  keep  Pete  here,  and  let  me  and  the 
boys  take  his  dory  and  pull  in — they'll  take  us 
through  the  tide-rips  all  right,  if  it  gets  bad.  I 
won't  ask  you  to  put  down  one  of  the  ship's 
boats." 

Pete  looked  at  Captain  Zim,  who  answered: 
"Oh,  all  right,  if  you're  in  such  a  hurry;  though 
you  might  wait  and  let  us  all  go  in  together. 
How  are  you  going  to  get  all  of  your  hand  lug 
gage  and  all  four  of  you  into  that  dory,  though?" 

"You  couldn't  spare  us  a  ship's  boat?" 

"Sure  I  can/'  answered  obliging  Captain  Zim. 
"I'll  tell  you— put  the  boys  in  the  dory,  and  I'll 
send  you  and  the  luggage  over  in  the  long-boat." 

"Get  down  there,  boys,"  commented  Uncle 
Dick,  briefly,  pointing  to  the  rope-ladder.  "Are 
you  afraid  to  go  down  the  ladder?" 

Rob's  answer  was  to  make  a  spring  for  the  top 
of  the  ladder,  and  down  he  went  hand  over  hand, 
followed  by  the  others,  each  of  whom  could  climb 
like  a  squirrel.  The  two  natives,  grinning,  reach 
ed  up  and  steadied  them  as  they  reached  the 
jumping  dory.  The  boys  insisted  on  having  their 
blankets  and  rifles  in  the  boat  with  them — a  part 
of  Alaska  education  which  had  been  taught  them 
by  old  prospectors. 

25 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

Pete  shouted  something  over  the  rail  in  the 
Aleut  tongue.  At  once  the  two  natives  bent  to 
their  oars,  and  the  dory  slipped  away  into  the 
fog.  Uncle  Dick,  busy  with  hunting  out  his 
luggage  for  the  long-boat,  did  not  at  first  miss  it 
from  the  foot  of  the  ladder. 

" Hello!  Where  did  that  dory  go?"  he  asked, 
finally.  In  the  confusion  no  one  answered  him. 
So  at  last  he  concluded  his  own  work  in  loading 
the  long  -  boat  and  went  overside,  ordering  the 
boat's  crew  to  give  way  together,  strongly,  in 
order  to  overtake  the  dory. 

But  when  the  long-boat,  after  feeling  its  way 
down  the  narrow  channel,  emerged  from  the  fog 
and  pulled  up  at  Kadiak  dock  there  was  no  dory 
there. 

" Hello,  there,  Jimmy!"  cried  Uncle  Dick  to 
the  manager  of  the  warehouse  at  the  dock. 
" Where's  that  boat?" 

"What  boat  do  you  mean,  sir?"  answered  the 
other. 

"  Why,  Pete's  dory.  We  just  sent  it  in  by  two 
natives,  with  three  boys  I've  got  along — friends 
and  relatives  of  mine." 

"You're  joking,  sir.     You  can't  have  brought 
boys  away  up  here.     Besides,  they  haven't  showed 
up  here  at  the  dock,  nor  any  dory,  either." 
2C 


LOST    IN    THE    FOG 

"They  must  have  got  into  the  other  channel 
mouth  in  the  fog  and  gone  down  Wood  Island 
way,"  said  Uncle  Dick,  at  last,  beginning  to  be 
troubled. 

"Well,  if  an  Aleut  can  do  anything  wrong, 
that's  what  he's  going  to  do,"  answered  the  dock- 
master.  "We'll  have  to  send  a  boat  over  there 
after  those  people  yet.  By -the -way,  Captain 
Barker,  of  the  Bennington,  is  waiting  for  you. 
And  he  told  me  to  tell  you  to  come  aboard  in 
Pete's  dory  as  soon  as  you  struck  the  town." 

"But  the  dory's  gone,"  commented  Uncle  Dick. 
"I  don't  like  the  look  of  this." 

Both  men,  with  lips  compressed,  stood  staring 
out  into  the  heavy  blanket  of  fog. 


THE  MISSING   DORY 

WHAT  happened  was  this :  The  two  natives  in 
the  dory  were  unable  to  understand  Eng 
lish,  and  of  course  the  three  boys  knew  nothing  of 
the  native  language.  Yet  from  the  hasty  instruc 
tion  of  the  pilot,  Pete,  the  natives  had  gathered 
that  "the  boss  gentleman  " — that  is  to  say,  Uncle 
Dick — wanted  to  go  to  the  revenue-cutter  Ben- 
nington.  Accordingly  they  concluded  that  the 
boys  also  were  bound  directly  for  the  cutter,  and 
so  instead  of  heading  to  the  channel  which  led  to 
the  town,  they  proposed  to  take  a  cut-off  behind 
Wood  Island,  best  known  to  themselves.  Thus 
they  rowed  on  for  more  than  half  an  hour  before 
any  of  the  boys  suspected  anything  wrong.  Rob 
made  signs  to  them  to  stop  rowing.  All  the  boys 
looked  about  them  in  the  fog.  They  were  still  in 
the  roll  of  the  open  sea,  and  the  dory  pitched  wild 
ly  on  the  long  swell,  but,  listen  intently  as  they 
might,  they  could  hear  no  sound  from  any  quarter. 

28 


THE    MISSING    DORY 

"We  ought  to  have  stayed  with  Uncle  Dick," 
suggested  Jesse. 

"That's  right!"  admitted  Rob.  "But  the 
question  is,  what  ought  we  to  do  now?  They 
pointed  out  town  that  way  from  the  Nora,  and  I 
know  we're  not  going  the  right  direction." 

To  all  inquiries  and  commands  the  natives  did 
nothing  but  shake  their  heads  and  smile  pleas 
antly.  At  last  they  resumed  their  oars  and  be 
gan  to  row  steadily  on  their  course.  The  sea 
now  came  tumbling  in  astern  in  long  black  rolls, 
broken  now  and  again  by  whitecaps.  Like  a 
cork  the  dory  swung  up  and  down  on  the  long 
swells,  and  all  the  boys  now  grew  serious,  for 
they  had  never  been  in  so  wild  a  water  as  this  in 
all  their  lives. 

They  progressed  this  way  a  little  while,  until 
Rob  bethought  himself  of  the  plan  employed 
by  the  captains  when  skirting  the  shore  in  fog. 
He  put  his  hands  to  his  mouth  and  gave  a  loud, 
drawn-out  shout,  and  then  listened  for  an  echo. 
Sure  enough  it  came,  faint  and  far  off,  but  un 
mistakable. 

"We're  running  down  the  coast,  or  else  the 
channel  is  wide  here,"  said  Rob,  "because  the 
echo  is  only  on  one  side." 

From  time  to  time  they  renewed  these  tactics, 

29 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

and  for  mile  after  mile  kept  in  touch  of  the 
shore,  on  which  now  and  then  they  could  hear 
the  waves  breaking  wildly.  At  last  Rob  set  his 
jaw  tight  in  decision. 

"I  tell  you  what,"  said  he;  " we're  going  the 
wrong  way.  We  ought  to  have  been  at  the  town 
long  before  this.  I'm  for  going  ashore  and  wait 
ing  till  the  fog  lifts." 

Both  Jesse  and  John  agreed  to  this,  for  now 
they  were  thoroughly  alarmed.  Rob  made  mo 
tions  to  the  two  native  oarsmen  that  they  should 
head  the  dory  inshore.  They,  always  disposed  to 
be  obedient  to  the  white  race,  agreed  and  swung 
the  dory  shoreward.  "Karosha,"  said  the  older 
of  the  two  men;  by  which  they  later  learned  he 
meant  to  say,  "All  right." 

The  two  natives  were  well  used  to  making  a 
landing  through  the  surf.  Arrived  off  shore, 
they  waited  till  a  big  wave  came  directly  at  the 
stern,  then  with  a  shout  gave  way  and  rode  in 
on  its  crest,  jumping  out  into  the  water  and  pull 
ing  the  dory  high  up  on  what  proved  to  be  a 
shingle  beach  backed  by  a  high  rock  wall  a  hun 
dred  yards  or  so  inland. 

All  the  boys  now  scrambled  out,  glad  enough 
to  set  foot  on  shore.  But  they  found  their  sur 
roundings  cheerless  rather.  The  soft  blanket  of 

30 


THE    MISSING    DORY 

the  fog  shut  in,  white  and  fleecy,  all  about  them. 
Now  and  again  they  heard  a  wandering  sea-bird 
call,  but  they  could  see  neither  the  sea  nor  any 
part  of  the  shore  beyond  the  rock  wall  near  at 
hand.  They  no  longer  heard  the  whistle  of  the 
Nora  lying  at  anchor  at  the  mouth  of  the  channel. 

Both  the  natives  now  pulled  out  pipes  and  be 
gan  to  smoke  silently.  One  produced  from  his 
pocket  an  object  deeply  wrapped  in  a  bundle  of 
rags  and  hide,  which  finally  proved  to  be  an  old 
brass  watch,  which  he  consulted  anxiously. 

"Him  sleep,"  he  remarked,  shaking  the  watch 
and  putting  it  to  his  ear.  By  this  Rob  knew 
that  he  meant  that  the  watch  had  stopped. 

"I  knew  he  could  talk,"  said  John.  "Ask  him 
where  we  can  get  something  to  eat.  I'm  getting 
awful  hungry." 

"You're  always  hungry,  John,"  said  Rob. 
"The  most  important  thing  for  us  is  to  find 
where  we  are.  Here,  you!"  He  addressed  the 
natives.  "  You  can  talk  English.  Which  way  is 
town?  How  far?  Why  don't  we  get  there  at 
once?" 

The  wrinkled  native  smiled  amiably  again,  and 
remarked  "By-'n-by";  but  that  seemed  to  be 
the  extent  of  his  English,  for  after  that  he  only 

shook  his  head  and  smiled. 
31 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"This  is  a  fine  thing,  isn't  it?"  said  Rob.  "I 
wonder  what  your  uncle  Dick  will  think  of  us. 
Anyway,  we've  got  our  guns  and  blankets,  and 
there's  a  box  of  crackers  and  some  canned  toma 
toes  under  the  boat  seat." 

At  last  the  two  natives  began  to  jabber  to 
gether  excitedly.  They  turned  and  said  some 
thing  to  the  boys  which  the  latter  could  not 
understand,  and  then,  without  further  ado,  made 
off  inland  and  disappeared  in  the  fog.  Some  mo 
ments  elapsed  before  the  boys  understood  what 
had  happened,  and  indeed  they  had  nc  means  of 
knowing  the  truth,  which  was  that  the  two  natives, 
who  were  perfectly  friendly,  had  started  across 
to  the  Mission  House  of  Wood  Island,  some  two 
miles  or  more,  in  search  of  something  to  eat,  and 
possibly  in  the  wish  of  getting  further  instructions 
about  these  young  men  they  found  in  their  charge. 

"Why  don't  they  come  back?"  asked  Jesse,  in 
the  course  of  half  an  hour  or  so,  during  which  all 
were  growing  more  anxious  than  they  cared  to 
admit. 

"Who  knows  how  long  'by-'n-by'  may  mean? 
I'd  like  to  get  out  of  here,"  added  John. 

"I'll  tell  you  what  we'll  do,"  said  Rob,  after 
they  had  waited  for  perhaps  another  half-hour. 
"These  men  have  left  us,  and  now  we'll  leave 
32 


THE    MISSING    DORY 

them  in  turn.  The  sea  is  pretty  rough,  but  this 
is  a  good  boat  and  we  can  run  her.  We  can  go 
back  that  way,  and  get  to  the  mouth  of  the 
channel,  because  I  noticed  which  way  the  wind 
was  blowing.  Town  must  be  off  to  the  left,  and 
we  can  keep  track  of  the  shore  by  the  echo.  I'm 
for  pulling  out  right  away." 

"So  am  I,"  assented  John.  And  Jesse,  al 
though  he  looked  rather  sober  at  the  sight  of  the 
white-topped  waves,  agreed. 

By  great  good-luck  they  were  able  to  push  the 
dory  out  with  the  receding  crest  of  a  big  wave, 
and  the  first  thing  they  knew  they  were  pitching 
up  and  down  in  the  white  water.  By  hard  pull 
ing  they  got  the  boat  offshore,  and  being  there 
outside  the  more  broken  water  made  fairly  good 
headway,  although  they  found  the  boat  heavy 
and  hard  to  pull. 

"  We  can't  make  it,"  said  Rob,  at  last.  "She's 
too  big  for  us  to  pull  against  the  wind,  and  that's 
the  way  we  must  go  if  we  go  toward  town.  I'm 
afraid  we'll  have  to  go  ashore  again." 

"Look,  look  there!"  cried  John,  suddenly. 

They  all  stopped  rowing  for  a  moment  and 
gazed  ahead. 

A  towering  ridge  of  white,  foamy  waves  arose 
directly  in  front  of  them,  higher  than  their  heads 

33 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

had  they  stood  upright  in  the  boat.  Swirling  and 
breaking,  it  seemed  to  advance  and  march  down 
upon  them.  The  surface  of  the  water  was  agi 
tated  as  though  some  great  creature  were  lash 
ing  it  into  foam.  But  soon  they  saw  that  this 
was  something  worse  than  any  creature  of  the 
deep. 

"It's  the  tide -rips!"  cried  Rob,  anxiously. 
"The  tide-bore  is  going  out  the  channel — I've 
heard  them  tell  of  that  before.  Look  out,  now! 
Give  way,  and  put  her  into  it  quartering,  or  it  '11 
swamp  us,  sure!" 


VI 

ADRIFT  ON  THE  OCEAN 

A  THOUSAND  angry,  choppy  waves  pitched 
alongside  the  dory,  as  though  reaching  up 
and  trying  to  come  aboard.  Time  and  again  the 
boys  thought  all  was  lost.  Instead  of  passing 
through  the  tide-rips,  the  dory  seemed  to  be 
carried  on  with  them  as  they  shifted. 

The  tide,  indeed,  had  now  turned,  and  with  its 
turn  the  fog  began  to  lift.  Getting  some  idea  of 
what  now  was  happening,  Rob  undertook  to  make 
back  toward  the  shore,  where  they  could  hear 
the  surf  roaring  heavily.  Perhaps  it  was  lucky 
they  did  not  succeed  in  this  attempt,  for  the  boat 
would  no  doubt  have  been  crushed  like  an  egg 
shell  on  the  rocks.  Instead,  they  began  to  float 
down  parallel  with  the  coast,  carried  on  the  crest 
of  the  big  tide-bore  which  every  day  passes  down 
the  east  coast  of  Kadiak  between  the  long,  paral 
lel  islands  which  make  an  inland  channel  many 
miles  in  extent.  As  the  boys  called  now  they 

35 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

could  hear  an  echo  on  each  side  of  them,  and  in 
deed  could  see  the  loom  of  the  rock-bound  shore; 
but  all  about  them  hissed  and  danced  these  fight 
ing  waves,  tossing  the  dory  a  dozen  ways  at  once, 
and  all  the  time  there  came  astern  the  long  roll 
of  the  mighty  Pacific  in  its  power,  the  Japan 
current  and  the  coast  tide  in  unison  forcing  a 
boiling  current  down  the  rocky  channel.  Escape 
was  hopeless. 

"Boys,"  said  Rob,  his  face  perhaps  a  trifle 
pale,  "we  can't  get  out  of  this.  All  we  can  do  is 
to  run." 

The  others  looked  at  him  silently. 

"She's  a  splendid  boat,"  went  on  Rob,  trying 
to  be  cheerful.  "She  rides  like  a  chip.  I  believe 
if  we  keep  low  down  she'll  be  safe,  for  it  doesn't 
seem  to  be  getting  any  worse." 

A  powerful  steamboat,  if  it  were  caught  under 
precisely  these  conditions,  could  have  done  little 
more  than  drift  down  the  channel.  The  boys  re 
signed  themselves  to  their  fate.  Now  and  again 
the  fog  shut  down.  Wild  cries  of  sea-birds  were 
about  them.  Now  and  then  the  leap  of  a  great 
dolphin  feeding  in  the  tide  splashed  alongside, 
to  startle  them  yet  more.  Each  moment,  as 
they  knew,  carried  them  farther  and  farther 
from  their  friends,  and  deeper  and  deeper 

36 


ADRIFT    ON    THE    OCEAN 

into  dangers  whose  nature  they  could  only 
guess. 

"I  wish  we'd  never  left  Valdez,"  said  Jesse,  at 
last,  his  lip  beginning  to  quiver. 

" That's  no  way  to  talk,"  said  Rob,  sternly. 
"The  right  thing  to  do  when  you're  in  a  scrape 
is  to  try  to  get  out  of  it.  This  tide  can't  run  clear 
round  the  world,  because  your  uncle  Dick  said 
this  island  wasn't  over  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  long,  and  there  must  be  any  number  of  bays 
and  coves.  Pull  some  crackers  out  of  that  box 
and  let's  eat  a  bite." 

" That's  the  talk/'  said  John,  more  cheerfully. 
"We'll  get  ashore  somewhere.  It's  no  use  to 
worry." 

John  was  always  disposed  to  be  philosophical; 
but  the  great  peculiarity  about  him  was  that  he 
was  continually  hungry.  He  found  the  crackers 
now  rather  dry  and  hard  to  eat,  so  worried  open 
a  can  of  tomatoes  with  his  hunting-knife,  com 
plaining  all  the  time  that  they  had  no  water  to 
drink. 

Their  hasty  meal  seemed  to  do  them  good. 
Finding  that  their  dory  was  still  afloat,  they  be 
gan  to  lose  their  fears.  Indeed,  little  by  little,  the 
height  of  the  waves  lessened.  The  tide  was  begin 
ning  to  spread  in  the  wider  parts  of  the  channel. 

37 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"Let's  try  the  oars  again,"  said  Rob,  at 
last. 

To  their  delight  they  found  that  they  could 
give  the  dory  some  headway.  But  in  which  di 
rection  should  they  row?  Small  wonder  that  in 
these  crooked  channels,  with  the  wind  shifting 
continually  from  the  shore  and  the  veil  of  fog 
alternately  lifting  and  falling  again,  they  took  the 
wrong  course. 

They  had  now  been  afloat  for  some  hours,  al 
though  at  that  season  of  the  year  there  is  day 
light  for  almost  the  entire  twenty-four  hours,  so 
that  they  had  no  means  of  guessing  at  the  time. 
They  had  passed  entirely  across  the  mouths  of 
two  or  three  of  the  great  inland  bays,  which 
make  into  the  east  shore  of  Kadiak  Island.  At 
the  time  when  they  flattered  themselves  they 
were  making  their  best  headway  back  toward 
town,  they  were  really  going  in  the  opposite  di 
rection,  caught  by  the  stiff  tide  which  was  run 
ning  between  Ugak  Island  and  the  east  coast  of 
Kadiak.  In  all,  they  remained  in  the  dory  per 
haps  ten  or  twelve  hours,  and  in  that  time  they 
perhaps  skirted  more  than  one  hundred  miles  of 
shore-line,  counting  the  indentations  of  the  bays, 
although  in  direct  distance  they  did  not  reach  a 
total  of  more  than  fifty  or  sixty  miles.  At  the 

38 


ADRIFT    ON    THE    OCEAN 

head  of  one  of  these  bays,  had  they  but  known 
it,  there  were  salmon  rivers  where  fishing-boats 
occasionally  stopped;  but  all  that  they  could  do 
was  to  use  the  best  of  their  wisdom  and  their 
strength,  and  they  kept  on,  steadily  pulling,  believ 
ing  that  the  tide  had  turned,  whereas  in  truth  they 
were  going  down  the  coast  still  with  the  tide  and 
approaching  the  mouth  of  the  vast  crooked  bay 
known  as  Kaludiak,  half-way  down  the  east  coast 
of  the  great  island.  Thus  they  were  leaving  be 
hind  a  possible  place  of  rescue.  Although  their 
first  fright  had  in  time  somewhat  worn  away, 
they  were  now  tired,  hungry,  thirsty,  and,  in  fact, 
almost  upon  the  point  of  exhaustion. 

All  at  once,  at  an  hour  which  in  the  United 
States  would  probably  have  been  taken  to  be  just 
before  sundown,  but  which  really  was  nearly 
eleven  o'clock  at  night,  a  change  in  the  contour 
of  the  coast  caused  the  wind  to  whip  around  once 
more.  The  fog,  broken  into  thousands  of  white, 
ropy  wreaths,  was  swept  away  upward.  There 
stretched  off  to  the  right  the  entrance  of  a  vast 
bay,  with  many  arms,  whose  blue  waters,  far 
less  turbulent  than  these  of  the  open  sea,  led 
back  deep  into  the  heart  of  a  noble  mountain 
panorama  of  snow-covered  peaks  and  flattened 

valleys. 

4  39 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"It's  almost  like  Resurrection  Bay,  or  Valdez 
Harbor/'  said  Rob.  "At  any  rate,  I'm  for  going 
in  here.  There  will  be  streams  coming  down  out 
of  the  mountains,  and  we  can  stop  somewhere 
and  make  camp." 


VII 

THE   HUT   ON  THE   BEACH 

ROB  pointed  to  a  valley  which  made  down  to 
the  bay  some  distance  ahead. 

" There  must  be  a  stream  somewhere  in  there/7 
said  he.  "  Besides,  it  looks  flat,  as  though  there 
were  a  beach.  We'd  better  pull  over  there." 

So,  weary  as  they  were,  they  tugged  on  the 
oars  until  finally  they  drew  opposite  this  narrow 
beach.  A  long  roll  from  the  sea  came  down  the 
bay,  but  the  surf  did  not  break  here  so  angrily, 
so  that  they  made  a  landing  with  nothing  more 
serious  than  a  good  wetting.  They  pulled  the 
dory  as  far  up  the  beach  as  they  could,  and  made 
it  fast  by  the  painter  to  a  big  rock. 

They  now  found  themselves  in  a  somewhat 
singular  country.  The  beach,  of  rough  shingle, 
rose  at  an  angle  of  thirty  degrees  for  perhaps  a 
hundred  feet,  where  it  terminated  in  a  long,  low 
ridge  which,  like  a  wall,  paralleled  the  salt  water 
as  far  as  they  could  see  on  either  hand.  Inside 

41 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

of  this  wall,  which  was  not  very  many  yards 
across  the  top,  they  beheld  a  flat  valley  lying  be 
tween  the  ocean  and  the  foot  of  the  mountains, 
perhaps  a  quarter  of  a  mile  across.  A  part  of  this 
valley  was  occupied  by  a  long  lake  or  lagoon,  into 
which  the  water  from  the  mountains  seemed  to 
come,  and  which  found  its  outlet  through  a  creek, 
which  made  off  to  the  sea,  far  to  the  right. 

All  this  country  is  covered  with  the  heavy 
moss,  or  tundra,  peculiar  to  Alaska,  which,  when 
covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  grass,  as  was  the 
case  here,  affords  rather  difficult  walking.  But 
as  the  boys  left  the  edge  of  the  sea-wall  Rob  ut 
tered  an  exclamation. 

"  Here's  a  path !"  he  cried.  "  It  must  go  some 
where.  There  have  been  people  here!" 

"Look  yonder!"  said  Jesse,  pointing  ahead. 
"There  is  the  reason.  There's  a  house  over 
there!" 

The  three  now  stopped  and  looked  ahead  anx 
iously.  There  was,  indeed,  a  low  hut  built  of 
drift-wood  and  earth — such  a  dwelling  as  is  used 
by  the  Aleuts  in  their  native  condition  and  is 
called  by  them  a  "barabbara." 

"There's  no  smoke,"  said  Rob.  "Maybe  it's 
deserted.  We'd  better  be  careful,  though." 

They  had  been  told  by  Uncle  Dick  that  there 

42 


THE    HUT    ON    THE    BEACH 

lived  on  the  east  coast  of  Kadiak  Island  a  part 
of  the  Aleut  tribes  who  still  remained  savage, 
and  who  never  visited  a  white  settlement  unless 
obliged  to  do  so.  Many  tales  of  theft  and  blood 
shed  came  from  these  natives,  who  had  always 
refused  to  come  under  the  influence  of  the  mis 
sions  or  schools,  one  or  two  of  which  are  estab 
lished  near  Kadiak.  In  short,  as  Rob  espe 
cially  very  well  knew,  there  was  no  wilder  or 
more  dangerous  portion  of  Alaska  than  that 
in  which  they  now  found  themselves.  It  was 
very  well  to  be  cautious  when  approaching  the 
dwelling-place  of  any  of  these  wild  natives,  who 
had  reasons  of  their  own  for  putting  out  of  the 
way  any  stray  white  man  who  might  come  into 
the  country. 

Thirst,  however,  drove  them  on.  They  watched 
the  low  house  for  several  minutes,  and  then  cau 
tiously  advanced  along  the  path.  They  found 
the  place  to  be  a  typical  native  camp.  Pieces  of 
drift-wood  lay  about,  mingled  with  skeletons  of 
foxes,  bones  of  salmon  and  codfish — all  the  un- 
cleanliness  of  an  Aleut  dwelling.  The  only  open 
ing  of  the  low,  round  hut  itself  was  fastened  by 
a  square  door  about  three  feet  across.  No  sound 
came  from  it. 

"  Who's  afraid?"  said  Rob,  at  last,  and  boldly 

43 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

pushed  open  the  door.  He  stooped  and  entered, 
and  the  others  followed  him. 

They  found  themselves  now  in  the  interior  of 
a  low  hovel,  perhaps  fifteen  feet  across,  and  rudely 
circular  in  form.  A  wall  of  roughly  laid  timbers 
extended  all  around,  perhaps  three  feet  from  the 
ground,  and  from  these  eaves  to  a  conical  point 
there  rose  the  rough  beams  of  the  roof,  which  was 
covered  heavily  with  dirt,  grass,  and  moss.  A 
hole  was  left  in  the  middle  of  the  roof  for  the 
smoke  to  escape.  In  the  centre  lay  the  white 
ashes  of  many  fires,  on  opposite  sides  of  which 
stood  two  half-burned  sticks  which  had  supported 
kettles.  The  plan  of  the  barabbara,  in  fact,  is 
precisely  similar  to  that  of  the  tepee  of  the  Plains 
Indians,  except  that  it  is  not  movable  and  is 
lower  and  even  less  roomy  than  a  good  tepee. 

" Nobody  home!"  said  Jesse,  looking  about  the 
dark  interior,  where  the  smoke  had  blackened 
all  the  wood,  and  where  only  a  little  light  came 
through  the  door  and  the  smoke-hole,  there  being 
no  window  at  all. 

"Nor  has  there  been  for  a  long  time,"  said  Rob. 
"These  bits  of  fish  are  all  dried  up.  The  ashes 
have  been  wet  with  rain  for  a  long  time.  See, 
back  there  under  the  eaves  there  are  a  lot  of 
klipsies.  That's  what  they  call  their  fox  traps. 

44 


THE    HUT    ON    THE    BEACH 

Yes,  this  no  doubt  is  the  camp  of  a  trapper  or 
two  who  live  here  in  the  winter-time." 

"But  where  do  they  go  in  the  summer?"  asked 
John. 

"Probably  to  some  of  their  own  villages.  It's 
almost  too  late  now  to  trap  foxes  for  their  furs, 
so  the  chances  are  there  will  be  no  one  here  until 
next  winter." 

"Why,  then,"  said  Jesse,  his  eyes  brighten 
ing,  "we  could  use  this  for  our  house,  couldn't 
we?" 

"Precisely,"  said  Rob.  "That's  just  what  we 
will  do." 

"That  '11  be  fine,"  said  John,  his  eyes  brighter 
than  they  had  been  for  many  an  hour.  "Now  if 
we  only  had  something  for  a  good  meal." 

"Here's  an  old  tin  lard-pail  they  no  doubt 
used  for  a  water-pail,"  said  Rob,  kicking  about  in 
the  heavy  covering  of  grass  which  lay  on  the 
floor.  "Now,  I  tell  you,  I'll  go  get  some  water; 
you  clean  the  hut,  Jess;  and,  John,  you  go  to 
the  boat  and  bring  over  the  box  of  crackers 
and  tomatoes." 

With  light  hearts  the  others  complied,  each 
glad  that  now  at  least  they  were  free  from  the 
clangers  of  the  sea. 

"I  believe  we're  going  to  be  all  right  here, 

45 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

John,"  said  Jesse,  as  the  latter  started  toward 
the  boat. 

"Surely  we  will,"  said  John.  "Only  I  know  I 
want  a  drink  pretty  badly." 

When  they  met  at  the  door  of  the  hut  a  few 
moments  later  Rob  offered  them  his  kettle  of 
water,  from  which  he  had  not  yet  drunk.  John 
took  a  deep  draught  and  spat  it  out  with  a  wry 
face. 

"Salt!"  he  exclaimed.     "That's  awful!" 

Rob  looked  at  him  in  surprise. 

"That's  strange,"  said  he.  "I  saw  the  creek 
tumbling  right  down  through  the  alders  into  this 
little  lake,  and  it  must  be  fresh  water."  He 
scratched  his  head.  "Oh,  I  know,"  said  he. 
"The  tide  backs  up  in  here  to  the  foot  of  the  little 
falls.  Give  me  the  kettle.  It's  shallow  out  there 
in  front,  and  there's  rocks.  We'll  cross  the  lake 
to  get  a  drink!" 

Suiting  the  action  to  the  words,  he  went  off  on 
a  run,  and  this  time  when  he  returned  he  had  the 
pail  full  of  excellent  fresh  water,  cold  as  ice. 

"I  got  my  feet  wet,"  said  he;  "but  never 
mind  that.  I've  learned  something  else — or,  at 
least,  I  think  I  have." 

"What's  that?"  asked  Jesse. 

"Why,  it's  this.     Our  crackers  and  tomatoes 

46 


THE    HUT    ON    THE    BEACH 

won't  last  very  long,  and  we  can't  eat  moss  or 
dried  grass.  We've  got  our  fishing-lines  done 
up  in  the  bedrolls  in  the  boat,  and  if  we  can't 
catch  any  codfish  in  the  bay,  there'll  be  a  time 
before  long,  unless  I'm  mistaken,  when  there'll 
be  salmon  in  this  creek.  They  say  they  run  in 
every  river  on  the  Alaska  coast,  and  I  suppose 
it's  the  same  here." 

"We'd  better  not  eat  up  all  our  crackers  right 
away,"  suggested  Jesse,  hesitating. 

"No,"  said  Rob,  who  seemed  to  drop  into  the 
place  of  leader.  "We'll  have  to  do  the  way  peo 
ple  do  when  they're  shipwrecked  and  cast  away. 
We'll  go  on  short  rations  for  a  while." 

"Well,"  said  John,  "let's  have  a  cracker,  any 
way,  and  the  rest  of  that  last  can  of  tomatoes 
we  opened.  I'd  like  a  cup  of  tea  pretty  well; 
but  it  may  be  some  time  before  we  see  tea  again." 

"Worry  enough  for  the  day,"  said  Rob.  "And 
what  we  ought  to  be  is  mighty  thankful  we  got 
off  as  well  as  we  have.  Anyhow,  we're  alive; 
and,  anyhow,  we'll  camp  here  to-night.  Now 
you  boys  go  over  to  the  boat  and  get  the  bed 
rolls,  while  I  pick  up  some  wood  and  get  some 
fresh  grass  for  the  beds.  It  '11  be  dark  now  be 
fore  long.  We'll  make  a  fire  and  cook  the  toma 
toes  in  the  can." 

47 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

Following  Rob's  advice,  each  now  busied  him 
self  at  these  different  tasks.  In  the  course  of  an 
hour  they  had  a  fire  glowing  at  the  centre  of  the 
barabbara,  which  now  would  otherwise  have  been 
quite  dark.  The  smoke  did  not  seriously  trouble 
them  after  they  had  learned  to  keep  down  low 
on  the  floor.  Each  unrolled  his  blankets  on  the 
deep,  sweet-scented  grass  near-by  the  fire.  Thus, 
alone  and  far  from  home,  in  a  situation  stranger 
than  any  of  them  had  ever  fancied  himself  about 
to  see,  they  lay  about  the  fire  at  midnight  of  the 
short  Alaskan  darkness.  Each  without  instruc 
tion  took  his  rifle  from  its  case  and  put  it  on 
the  blankets  beside  him,  taking  care  that  it  was 
loaded.  Outside  they  could  hear  the  calls  of  fly 
ing  birds;  otherwise  deep  silence  reigned.  They 
felt,  although  they  could  not  see,  the  presence 
of  the  surrounding  walls  of  the  great  white 
mountains.  Now  and  then  they  could  hear  the 
faint  boom  of  the  sea  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
inner  wall.  It  was  a  wild  and  new  experience 
for  them  as  at  last,  one  by  one,  each  nodded  and 
dropped  back  upon  his  blankets  for  such  sleep 
as  he  could  find  in  his  first  night  in  camp  on  the 
unknown  Kadiak  coast. 


VIII 

THE   SALMON   RUN 

WORN  out  as  they  were  by  the  adventures  of 
the  preceding  day,  the  boys  slept  long  and 
soundly.  When  at  length  Rob  awoke  he  saw 
that  the  sun  was  shining  brightly  down  through 
the  smoke- vent  in  the  roof.  He  called  the  others, 
who  rolled  over  sleepily  in  their  blankets. 

"Time  for  breakfast^ John,"  said  he,  laughing. 

"Yes,  and  no  breakfast,"  grumbled  John — "at 
least,  nothing  but  more  crackers  and  tomatoes, 
and  not  very  much  of  that." 

"I'll  have  a  look  outside  first,"  said  Rob, 
crawling  over  to  the  door  and  pushing  it  open. 
"I  say,  it's  a  fine  day!  You  can  see  the  moun 
tains  all  around  as  clear  as  you  please.  Where- 
ever  we  are,  it's  a  big  country  at  least." 

"What  was  that  I  heard  just  now?"  exclaimed 
John,  joining  him  at  the  door;  "it  sounded  like 
a  splash." 

They  both  crawled  out  of  the  door  and  stood 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

up  where  they  could  see  the  surface  of  the  lagoon, 
which  lay  but  a  few  yards  distant  from  the  front 
of  the  hut.  Sure  enough,  a  series  of  spreading 
wrinkles  marked  the  water. 

"Must  have  been  a  fish,"  said  John.  "There 
he  goes  again!" 

Even  as  he  spoke  Rob  had  left  him  and  was 
running  to  the  edge  of  the  water.  " Salmon!"  he 
cried.  " Salmon!  I  thought  so.  Now  we're  all 
right!" 

These  were  Alaska  boys,  and  a  run  of  salmon 
was  nothing  new  to  them,  although  it  is  some 
thing  never  failing  of  interest  no  matter  how 
often  one  sees  it.  The  three  now  gathered  at  the 
shallow  water  a  short  distance  below  the  hut. 
All  along  the  creek  crows  and  ravens  were  flying 
in  great  flocks.  Fiom  the  heavy  grove  of  cotton- 
wood  beyond  the  creek  there  arose  several  great 
birds,  soaring  majestically  across  —  eagles  —  also 
interested  in  the  coming  of  the  fish.  Suddenly 
one  of  these  made  a  swift  dart  from  its  poise  high 
in  the  air,  straight  as  an  arrow,  and  flinging  the 
water  in  every  direction  as  it  struck.  Struggling, 
it  rose  again  with  a  great  fish  in  its  talons. 

"He's  got  his  breakfast,  anyhow,"  said  John, 
ruefully.  "But  now  how  are  we  going  to  get 
ours?" 

50 


THE    SALMON    RUN 

"Run  to  the  boat,  John,"  said  Rob.  "I  re 
member  seeing  some  cod-lines  with  big  hooks 
under  the  back  seat.  Must  have  belonged  to 
those  natives.  You  bring  me  those  hooks  while 
I  hunt  for  a  pole." 

Excitedly  they  all  now  began  to  see  what  might 
be  done  toward  making  a  salmon-gaff  such  as 
Indians  use;  for  all  these  boys  knew  very  well 
that  the  Alaska  salmon  will  not  take  any  sort  of 
a  bait  or  lure  when  they  are  ascending  a  stream; 
and  these  were  the  red  salmon,  fish  of  about  eight 
or  ten  pounds  in  weight,  which  in  that  part  of 
the  world  are  never  known  to  take  any  kind  of 
lure. 

In  a  few  minutes  Rob,  having  found  a  longish 
pole  in  the  grass  near  by,  had  hurriedly  bound 
with  a  piece  of  cod-line  the  three  large  hooks  at 
the  end  so  that  they  made  a  gang  or  gaff.  Tak 
ing  this,  and  rolling  up  his  trousers  high  as 
he  could,  he  waded  into  the  shallow,  ice-cold 
water. 

"Where  are  they  now?"  he  asked  of  the  others, 
who  remained  on  the  bank. 

"There  they  come — there's  a  school  coming 
now!"  cried  Jesse. 

All  at  once  Rob  could  see  the  surface  of  the 
water  below  him  just  barely  moving  in  low, 

51 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

silvery  ripples  as  though  a  faint  wind  touched  it. 
A  sort  of  metallic  lustre  seemed  to  hang  above 
the  water — the  reflection  from  the  bright  scales 
of  the  many  fish  swimming  close  to  the  surface. 
Presently,  as  he  looked  into  the  water  directly 
at  his  feet,  he  could  see  scores  of  large,  ghostly 
looking  creatures,  pale  green  or  silvery,  passing 
slowly  by  him,  some  of  them  so  close  as  almost 
to  touch  his  legs  as  he  stood  motionless.  Once 
or  twice  he  struck  with  his  gaff,  but  the  quick 
motions  of  the  fish  foiled  him;  and  it  looked  as 
though  the  boys  would  wait  some  time  for  their 
breakfast,  after  all.  At  last,  however,  he  waded 
closer  to  the  shore  and  half  hid  behind  a  bush, 
extending  his  gaff  in  front  of  him  with  the  hooks 
resting  on  the  bottom. 

"Now,  drive  them  over  this  way — throw  in 
some  stones/'  he  directed. 

The  others  did  as  he  said,  and  all  at  once  Rob 
saw  the  water  directly  in  front  of  him  full  of  a 
mass  of  confused  fish.  A  quick  jerk,  and  he  had 
a  fine,  fat  fish  fast,  and  the  next  instant  it  was 
flopping  on  the  bank,  while  all  three  of  them  fell 
upon  it  with  eager  cries. 

uNow  another!"  said  Rob.  "They  may  not 
be  running  all  day." 

He  returned  to  his  hiding-place  near  the  bush, 

52 


THE    SALMON    RUN 

and  thus  in  a  few  minutes  he  had  secured  a  half- 
dozen  splendid  fish. 

"That  will  do  for  now,"  said  he.  "What  do 
you  think  of  the  chance  for  breakfast  now,  Mis 
ter  John?" 

John  grinned  happily.  He  already  had  a 
couple  of  the  fish  nicely  cleaned. 

"I'll  tell  you  what,"  said  Jesse,  "after  we've 
had  breakfast  we'll  catch  a  lot  of  these  fat  ones 
and  split  them  open  the  way  the  Indians  do.  I 
think  we  could  make  a  smoking-rack  for  them 
without  much  trouble." 

"Capital,"  said  Rob._  "We  ought  to  dry  some 
fish  when  we  have  the  chance,  because  no  one  can 
tell  how  long  we  may  have  to  live  here." 

"But  we  won't  do  anything  till  after  break 
fast,"  said  John,  looking  up. 

"No,"  laughed  Rob,  "I'm  just  as  hungry  as 
you  are.  So  now  let's  build  a  little  fire  and,  since 
we  have  no  frying-pan  as  yet,  do  what  we  can  at 
broiling  some  salmon  steaks  on  sticks." 

It  was  not  the  first  time  they  had  cooked  fish 
in  this  way,  and  although  they  sadly  missed  the 
salt  to  which  they  were  accustomed,  they  made 
a  good  breakfast  from  salmon  and  a  cracker  or 
so  apiece,  which  Rob  doled  out  to  them  from 
their  scanty  supply. 

53 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"We  ought  to  keep  what  we  have  as  long  as 
we  can,"  said  Rob.  "For  instance,  we've  only 
a  couple  of  boxes  of  matches,  and  we  must  not 
waste  one  if  we  can  help  it.  We'll  look  around 
after  awhile  and  see  if  we  can  scare  up  a  frying- 
pan.  But  now  I  move  that  the  first  thing  we  do 
be  to  explore  our  country  just  a  little  bit." 

"Agreed,"  said  John,  who  was  now  well  fed 
and  contented.  "Suppose  we  walk  down  to  the 
mouth  of  the  creek  over  there." 

Following  along  the  winding  shores  of  the 
small  stream,  which  here  at  high  tide  was  not 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  they  found  themselves 
finally  at  the  angle  between  the  creek  and  the 
open  bay,  beyond  the  end  of  the  low  sea-wall 
which  has  earlier  been  mentioned.  The  creek 
here  turned  in  sharply  toward  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  and  across  from  where  the  boys  stood 
a  sheer  rock  wall  rose  several  hundred  feet.  This 
shut  off  the  view  of  a  part  of  the  bay  on  that 
side,  but  in  other  directions  they  could  see  the 
white-topped  waves  rolling,  eight  or  ten  miles 
across  to  the  farther  side,  where  there  were  many 
other  bays  making  back  among  the  mountains. 

Out  in  the  bay  where  the  stream  emptied, 
schools  of  salmon,  apparently  thousands  in  num 
ber,  were  flinging  themselves  into  the  air  as  they 

54 


THE    SALMON    RUN 

started  toward  the  mouth  of  the  creek.  At  the 
last  angle  of  the  stream,  where  it  turned  against 
the  rock  wall,  there  was  a  pool  perhaps  fifty  feet 
across  and  twenty  feet  in  depth,  and  as  the  boys 
looked  down  into  this  it  seemed  literally  packed 
with  hundreds  and  thousands  of  great  salmon, 
which  swam  around  and  around  before  picking 
out  the  current  of  the  stream  up  which  they  were 
to  swim. 

"  Here's  fish  enough  for  us  whenever  we  want 
any,"  said  Rob.  "  We  can  catch  them  here  with 
out  much  trouble,  I  think." 

"  I  don't  know,  we  may  not  be  so  badly  off  here 
for  a  while,  after  all/'  admitted  John. 

"Just  look  at  the  gulls,"  said  Jesse,  idly  shying 
a  pebble  at  one  great  bird  as  it  came  screaming 
along  close  above  them,  to  join  its  kind  in  the 
great  flocks  that  circled  around  above  the  sal 
mon,  which  they  were  helpless  to  feed  upon,  not 
being  equipped  with  beak  and  talons  like  the 
eagles. 

"Yes,"  said  Rob,  "thousands  of  them.  And 
every  pair  of  them  with  a  nest  somewhere,  and 
every  nest  with  two  eggs,  and  a  good  many  of 
them  good  to  eat.  Do  you  see  those  tall,  ragged 
rocks  out  there?  That  looks  to  me  like  their 
nesting-ground." 

5  55 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"But  we  can't  get  there,"  said  John,  pointing 
to  the  creek. 

"  Oh  yes,  we  can,  in  two  ways.  We  could  wade 
the  creek  up  above  and  climb  across  the  shoulder 
of  the  mountain  there,  and  maybe  cross  the  next 
creek  beyond,  and  so  get  out  to  those  rocks  on 
the  point  below.  Or  we  can  launch  the  dory  up 
above  and  come  down  the  coast  to  the  mouth  of 
the  creek,  and  then  skirt  the  shore  over  there." 

"Why  don't  we  bring  our  boat  over  here  and 
take  it  up  the  creek  ?"  asked  Jesse.  "We  wouldn't 
have  to  row  more  than  a  mile  or  so,  and  then  we'd 
always  know  our  boat  was  safe." 

"That's  a  good  idea,"  said  Rob.  "We'll  do 
that  this  very  day.  Suppose  we  go  back  now  to 
the  house." 

They  now  turned  and  began  slowly  to  walk  up 
the  creek  again.  Suddenly  Rob  stooped  down 
and  parted  the  grass,  looking  closely  at  some 
thing  on  the  ground. 

"What  is  it,  Rob?"  asked  John,  joining  him. 

The  two  now  pushed  the  grass  apart  and  looked 
down  eagerly.  Rob  rose  to  his  knees  and  pushed 
the  cap  back  on  his  forehead. 

"If  I  didn't  know  better,"  said  he,  "I'd  call 
that  the  track  of  an  elephant  or  a  mastodon  or 
something.  See,  there  it  goes,  all  along  the  shore." 

56 


THE    SALMON    RUN 

"But  it  can't  be  an  elephant/7  said  Jesse. 

"No,  it  can't  be  anything  but  just  what  it  is— 
the  track  of  a  bear!  What  Uncle  Dick  said  is 
true.  Look,  this  track  is  more  than  half  as  long 
as  my  arm." 

"We'd  better  get  back  to  the  house  as  quick 
as  we  can/'  said  Jesse,  anxiously.  "That  bear 
may  come  back  any  minute !" 


IX 

THE  BIG  BEAR  OF  KADIAK 

FT1HE  three  now  started  up  the  creek  toward 
J_  the  barabbara,  their  steps  perhaps  a  little 
quicker  than  when  they  came  down-stream.  Rob 
was  scanning  the  mountain  -  side  carefully,  and 
looking  as  well  at  the  sign  along  the  creek  bank. 

"  That's  where  he  lives,  up  in  that  canon  across 
the  creek,  very  likely/'  he  said,  at  length.  " Here's 
where  he  crossed  in  the  shallow  water,  and  last 
night  he  fished  all  along  this  bank.  My!  I'll 
bet  he's  full  of  bones  to-day.  It's  the  first  run 
of  fish,  and  he  was  so  hungry  he  ate  pretty  near 
everything  except  the  backbone."  He  pointed 
to  a  dozen  skeletons  of  salmon  that  lay  half  hid 
den  in  the  grass.  The  latter  was  trampled  down 
as  though  cows  had  been  in  pasture  there. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Jesse,  soberly.  "  I  always 
wanted  to  kill  a  bear,  and  there's  three  of  us  now 
and  we've  got  guns;  but  I  don't  believe  I  ever 
wanted  to  kill  a  bear  quite  as  big  as  this  one. 

58 


THE    BIG    BEAR    OF    KADIAK 

Why,  he  could  smash  in  the  door  of  our  house  in 
the  night  and  eat  us  up  if  he  wanted  to." 

"We'll  eat  him,  that's  what  we'll  do,"  said 
John,  decisively.  "I  only  wish  we  had  a  kettle 
or  a  frying-pan  or  something." 

" Seems  to  me  you'd  better  get  the  bear  first," 
said  Jesse.  "But  we  might  look  in  among  the 
traps  in  the  back  of  the  hut  and  see  what  we  can 
find.  These  hunters  nearly  always  leave  some 
kind  of  cooking  things  at  their  camps." 

Sure  enough,  when  the  boys  entered  the  barab- 
bara  to  look  after  their  rifles,  and  began  to  rum 
mage  among  the  piles  of  klipsies  which  they  found 
thrown  back  under  the  eaves,  they  unearthed  a 
broken  cast-iron  frying-pan  and,  what  caused 
them  even  greater  delight,  a  little,  dirty  sack, 
which  contained  perhaps  three  or  four  pounds  of 
salt.  They  sat  on  the  grass  of  the  floor  and 
looked  at  one  another  with  broad  smiles.  "If 
everything  keeps  up  as  lucky  as  this,"  said  Jesse, 
"we'll  be  ready  to  keep  house  all  right  pretty 
soon.  But  ought  we  to  use  these  things  that 
don't  belong  to  us?" 

"Surely  we  may,"  answered  Rob.  "It  is  al 
ways  the  custom  in  a  wild  country  for  any  one 
who  is  lost  and  in  need  to  take  food  when  he 
finds  it,  and  to  use  a  camp  as  though  it  were  his 

59 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

own.  Of  course  we  mustn't  waste  anything  or 
carry  anything  off,  but  while  we're  here  we'll  act 
as  though  this  place  were  ours,  and  if  any  one 
finds  us  here  we'll  pay  for  what  we  use.  That's 
the  Alaska  way,  as  you  know." 

"  You' re  not  going  out  after  that  big  bear,  are 
you?"  asked  Jesse,  anxiously,  of  Rob. 

"Of  course;  we're  all  going!  What  are  these 
new  rifles  for — just  look,  brand-new  high-power 
Winchesters,  every  one — and  any  one  of  these 
guns  will  shoot  as  hard  for  us  as  for  a  grown 


man." 


They  sat  for  some  time  in  the  hut  discussing 
various  matters.  At  last  John  crawled  to  the 
door  and  looked  out.  He  was  rather  a  matter-of- 
fact  boy  in  his  way,  and  there  seemed  no  special 
excitement  in  his  voice  as  he  remarked:  "Well, 
Rob,  there  comes  your  bear." 

The  others  hurried  to  the  door.  Sure  enough, 
upon  the  bare  mountain  slope  beyond  the  lagoon, 
nearly  half  a  mile  away,  there  showed  plainly 
enough  the  body  of  an  enormous  bear,  large  as  a 
horse.  It  was  one  of  the  great  Kadiak  bears, 
which  are  the  biggest  of  all  the  world. 

"Cracky!"  said  Jesse;  "he  looks  pretty  big  to 
me.  Do  you  suppose  he'll  find  us  here  in  the 
house?" 


THE    BIG    BEAR    OF    KADIAK 

Rob,  the  oldest  of  the  three,  who  had  been  on 
one  or  two  hunts  with  his  father,  looked  serious 
as  he  watched  this  giant  animal  advancing  down 
the  hill-side  with  its  long,  reaching  stride.  Sud 
denly  he  uttered  an  exclamation.  "Look!"  said 
he;  "there's  two  more  just  come  out  of  the  brush. 
It's  and  old  she  bear  and  her  cubs  coming  down  to 
fish!" 

All  could  now  see  the  three  bears,  the  great, 
yellow-gray  mother,  huge  and  shaggy,  and  the 
two  cubs,  darker  in  color  and,  of  course,  much 
smaller,  although  each  was  as  large  as  the  ordi 
nary  black  bear  of  the  United  States.  Certainly 
it  was  an  exciting  moment  as  the  boys  looked  at 
these  great  creatures  now  so  close  at  hand. 

Presently  the  old  bear  seemed  to  suspect  some 
thing,  for  she  stopped  and  sat  up  on  her  haunches, 
swinging  from  side  to  side  a  head  which  was 
fully  as  long  as  the  arm  of  any  one  of  the 
boys. 

"She  probably  smells  the  smoke,"  whispered 
Rob.  "Oh,  I  hope  she  won't  get  scared  and  run 
away!  No,  there  she  comes;  it's  the  first  salmon 
run,  and  they're  all  hungry  for  fish." 

They  watched  the  bears  until  at  last  they  dis 
appeared  in  the  brush  which  lined  the  creek  on 
the  farther  side.  Rob  kept  his  eye  intently  fixed 

61 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

on  the  place  where  they  had  disappeared,  but 
made  no  motion  to  leave  the  hut  until  finally  all 
three  of  the  bears  once  more  appeared,  this  time 
splashing  across  the  creek. 

"She  knows  the  tide  as  well  as  we  do/'  mut 
tered  he.  "It  won't  be  long  now  before  the  fish 
begin  to  move  up  the  creek  again.  Now,  come  on, 
fellows,  if  you're  not  afraid!" 

Rob  looked  around  at  John,  who  had  his  new 
rifle  in  his  hand,  but  looked  none  too  eager,  now 
that  the  opportunity  had  come  to  use  it.  Jesse's 
lip,  it  must  be  confessed,  trembled  a  little  bit,  and 
he  was  pale.  The  first  sight  of  a  large  bear  has 
been  known  to  unsettle  the  nerves  of  many  a 
grown  man,  and  it  was  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  it  should  disturb  one  of  Jesse's  years.  There 
was,  perhaps,  in  the  wild  and  remote  situation 
in  which  they  found  themselves  something  which 
gave  them  courage.  They  had  escaped  such  dan 
gers  of  the  sea  that  now  the  danger  of  the  land 
seemed  less  by  comparison.  Moreover,  they  all 
had  the  hunting  instinct,  and  were  accustomed 
to  seeing  big  game  brought  in  by  their  relatives 
and  friends.  Had  an  older  person  been  with 
them,  no  doubt  they  would  all  have  been  fright 
ened;  but  there  is  something  strange  in  the 
truth  that  when  one  is  thrown  on  one's  own  re- 

62 


THE    BIG    BEAR    OF    KADIAK 

sources  courage  comes  when  needed  —  as  it  did 
now  to  these  three  castaways. 

Without  any  further  speech  Rob  passed  out  at 
the  door  and  stood  waiting  for  the  others  to  fol 
low.  Each  was  silent  as  he  held  his  way  down 
the  creek. 

For  some  distance  they  did  not  need  to  conceal 
themselves;  then  their  leader  took  them  along 
the  edge  of  the  creek,  where  their  heads  would 
not  show  above  the  grass.  Thus  following  down 
the  stream,  and  carefully  peering  over  the  banks 
at  each  bend,  they  worked  along  until  they  were 
perhaps  three  or  four  hundred  yards  above  the 
big  salmon  pool  and  near  to  a  flat  piece  of  water 
which  extended  above  it.  Rob  raised  a  warning 
finger. 

"Listen!"  he  hissed. 

They  could  hear  it  now  distinctly  —  heavy 
splashing  in  the  water,  broken  with  low,  grum 
bling  whines  in  a  deep,  throaty  voice,  something 
like  what  one  may  hear  in  a  circus  at  feeding- 
time.  Once  in  a  while  a  squeak  or  a  bawl  came 
from  one  of  the  cubs.  Rob  laughed.  From  his 
position  near  the  top  of  the  bank  he  could  now 
see  the  picture  before  him. 

The  old  mother  was  sitting  on  her  haunches 
out  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  with  a  cub  on 

63 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

either  side  of  her.  She  was  trying  to  teach  them 
to  fish.  Once  in  a  while  she  would  make  a  sudden, 
cat-like  stroke  with  her  long  forearm,  and  almost 
always  would  throw  out  a  fine  salmon  on  the 
bank.  Toward  this  the  cubs  would  start  in  their 
hunger,  but  the  old  lady,  reproving  them  for  their 
eagerness,  would  then  cuff  them  soundly  on  the 
head,  knocking  them  sprawling  over  in  the  water, 
to  their  very  great  disgust.  Once  in  a  while  one 
of  them,  his  ears  tight  to  his  head,  would  sit  down 
in  the  water,  lift  up  his  nose  and  complain  bit 
terly  at  this  hard  treatment.  Then  again  he 
would  make  a  half-hearted  stroke  at  some  of  the 
fish  which  he  could  see  swimming  about  him; 
but  his  short  claws  would  not  hold  like  the  long, 
curved  ones  of  his  mother,  and  no  fish  rewarded 
the  efforts  of  either  of  the  cubs.  The  boys  lost 
all  sense  of  fear  in  watching  this  amusing  scene, 
which  they  studied  for  some  minutes.  They  real 
ly  lost  their  best  opportunity  for  stalking  their 
game,  because  presently  the  old  grizzly  changed 
her  mind  and  led  the  way  out  to  the  bank  where 
several  fish  were  lying  flapping.  Upon  these  they 
all  fell  eagerly,  grunting  and  grumbling,  and  now 
and  again  fighting  among  themselves. 

Rob  turned  toward  his  friends.     " Quick  now!" 
he  whispered,  sternly,  and  led  the  way,  crawling 

64 


THE    BIG    BEAR    OF    KADIAK 

into  the  high  grass  which  would  afford  them 
cover  for  a  closer  approach  to  their  game.  The 
hearts  of  all  of  them  now  were  throbbing  wildly, 
and  probably  each  one  doubted  his  ability  to  do 
good  shooting.  Something,  however,  led  them 
on,  and  although  Rob  saw  two  pale  faces  follow 
ing  him  when  he  looked  back,  there  was  a  glitter 
in  the  eyes  of  each  which  told  him  that  at  least 
each  of  his  friends  would  do  his  best. 

Passing  now  out  of  the  grass  to  the  cover  of 
the  bank  again,  Rob  ran  along  crouching,  until 
he  pulled  up  under  cover  of  the  bank  at  a  point 
not  more  than  seventy-five  yards  from  where 
they  could  now  distinctly  hear  the  bears  at  their 
feeding. 

"Get  ready  now!"  he  whispered. 

Slowly  the  three  crawled  to  the  top  of  the 
bank.  Rob  laid  a  hand  on  Jesse's  rifle  barrel, 
which  he  saw  was  unsteady.  He  made  motions 
to  both  of  the  others  not  to  be  excited.  A  strange 
sort  of  calm  seemed  to  have  come  upon  him. 
Yet,  plucky  as  he  was,  he  was  not  prepared  for 
the  sight  which  met  him  as  he  gazed  through  the 
parted  grass  at  the  top  of  the  bank. 

The  old  grizzly,  once  more  suspicious,  had  again 
sat  up  on  her  haunches,  and  turning  her  head 
from  side  to  side  began  to  sniff  as  though  she 

65 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

scented  danger.  Her  shaggy  hair  shone  silvery 
now  in  the  sun,  and  she  seemed  enormously  large. 
Rob's  heart  leaped  to  his  mouth,  but  suddenly 
dropping  to  his  knee,  and  calling  out  to  the 
others  "Now!"  he  fired  without  longer  hesitation. 

The  sound  of  the  other  two  rifles  followed  at 
once.  The  great  bear  gave  a  hoarse  roar  which 
seemed  to  make  the  hair  prickle  on  the  boys' 
heads;  but  even  as  she  roared  she  dropped  and 
floundered  in  the  mud  of  the  bank,  up  which 
she  strove  to  climb.  Again  and  again  the  rifles 
spoke. 

"Now  the  little  ones — quick!"  cried  Rob,  half 
springing  to  his  feet,  and  continuing  to  fire  stead 
ily.  Some  one's  shot  struck  the  first  cub  square 
through  the  spine  and  killed  it  instantly.  The 
second  cub  stood  but  a  moment  longer.  These 
boys  had  used  rifles  many  times  before,  and  al 
though  not  every  shot  went  true,  perhaps  half 
of  them  struck  their  mark;  and  it  was  as  Rob 
had  said — the  rifles  shot  as  hard  for  them  as  for 
a  grown  man. 

The  great  she  bear,  possessed  of  enormous  vitali 
ty,  was  not  easily  disposed  of.  The  magazines  of 
all  the  rifles  were  emptied  the  second  time  before 
Rob  would  allow  them  to  go  a  foot  closer,  and 
even  so,  the  great  gray  body  retained  life  enough 

66 


THE    BIG    BEAR    OF    KADIAK 

to  roll  half  down  the  bank  as  they  approached. 
This  time  Rob  finished  the  old  bear  with  a  shot 
through  the  head,  at  a  distance  of  not  more  than 
thirty  yards. 

The  game  was  down  and  dead  —  three  great 
bears,  one  of  them  huge  beyond  the  wildest 
dreams  of  any  of  them,  and  unbelievably  large 
even  for  the  most  widely  experienced  sportsman. 
Indeed,  any  sportsman  might  have  been  proud 
of  this  record.  Rob  turned  to  look  at  his  friends. 

Suddenly  he  himself  sat  down,  and  to  his  sur 
prise  found  that  he  was  trembling  violently  all 
over.  Jesse  and  John  were  both  doing  the  same. 
He  saw  that  their  faces  were  deathly  pale. 

"I'm — I'm — I'm  sort  of — sort  of  sick  at  my 
stomach!"  said  Jesse. 


X 

THE   SAVAGE  REFUGEE 

WELL,"  said  Rob,  finally,  looking  around 
at  his  friends   and  grinning,    "I   don't 
know  which  of  us  is  the  worst  scared;  but,  any 
how,  we've  got  our  game,  and  a  lot  of  it.     Do  you 
suppose  we  can  skin  these  big  fellows?" 

" We'll  have  to,"  said  John.  " There's  meat 
enough  to  last  us  a  year.  That  old  bear  is  bigger 
than  any  horse  in  Valdez." 

"And  tough  as  any  horse,  too,"  said  Rob. 
"The  cubs  may  be  better  to  eat.  I  have  heard 
my  father  say  that  bear  liver  isn't  bad;  and  cer 
tainly  we  can  get  all  the  fat  we  want  to  fry  our 
fish.  Lucky  we've  all  got  our  hunting  -  knives 
along;  so  here  goes!" 

They  now  arose  and  began  the  difficult  task  of 
skinning  out  the  great  bear — slow  work  for  even 
an  experienced  hunter.  They  kept  at  it,  how 
ever,  and  had  made  a  good  beginning  when  all 
at  once  a  slight  sound  at  the  edge  of  the  creek 
bank  attracted  Rob's  attention. 
68 


THE    SAVAGE    REFUGEE 

As  he  turned  the  others  noticed  him,  and  all 
three  of  them  stood  staring  an  instant  later  at 
the  same  object:  a  round,  dark  face  gazing  at 
them  motionless  through  the  grass — a  face  with 
cunning  little  eyes,  set  slantwise,  like  those  of  a 
Japanese,  and  long,  stringy  locks  of  dark  hair 
hanging  down  about  the  cheeks.  Instinctively 
each  boy  reached  for  his  rifle,  which  he  had  left 
leaning  against  the  carcass  of  the  great  bear. 
Apparently  not  alarmed,  the  face  kept  its  place, 
staring  steadily  at  them.  Rob  now  guessed  the 
truth,  which  was  that  this  Aleut  savage  had 
heard  the  shots  and  had  entered  the  mouth  of  the 
creek  in  his  boat.  Not  knowing  whether  he  was 
friend  or  foe,  Rob  motioned  the  others  to  follow 
him,  and  approached  him  with  his  rifle  at  a  ready. 

Seeing  that  they  were  not  afraid,  nor  disposed  to 
be  driven  from  their  place,  the  Aleut  savage — for 
such  it  proved  to  be — arose,  and  with  what  he 
meant  to  be  a  smile  stretched  out  his  hand  as 
though  in  friendship.  His  gun,  a  rusty  old  affair, 
he  left  lying  on  the  ground  at  his  side.  Rob 
kicked  it  away  as  he  approached. 

They  now  saw  how  the  Aleut  had  reached 
them.  His  boat,  a  long,  native  bidarka,  lay  in 
the  creek,  up  which  the  native  had  paddled  si 
lently  on  his  own  errand  of  discovery.  This 
69 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

boat  interested  the  boys  very  much.  It  was 
nearly  twenty  feet  long  and  not  more  than  two 
feet  wide,  covered  entirely  with  tightly  stretched 
skin.  In  the  deck  were  two  round  holes,  around 
each  of  which  there  was  a  mantle,  or  hood,  of  oiled 
hide  or  membrane,  which  could  be  drawn  up  about 
the  waist  of  a  man  sitting  in  the  hatch.  On  the 
narrow  and  sloping  deck  there  was  lashed  a  long 
spear  and  an  extra  paddle.  The  boys  also  no 
ticed  sticking  to  the  deck  a  stringy-looking  mass 
of  grayish  white,  which  at  first  they  could  not 
identify,  though  later  they  found  it  to  be  a  col 
lection  of  devil-fish,  or  octopi,  which  the  native 
had  gathered  among  the  rocks  for  later  use  as 
food.  Peering  into  the  hatches  they  saw  a  cop 
per  kettle  partly  filled  with  a  whitish-looking 
meat,  which  later  they  found  to  be  whale  flesh. 
There  was  a  ragged  blanket  of  fur  thrust  under 
the  deck  between  the  hatches. 

"He's  been  cruising  along  the  coast,"  said 
Rob;  "but  this  is  a  two-hatch  bidarka,  so  prob 
ably  he's  got  a  partner  somewhere  around." 

"Maybe  he's  up  at  our  house  now  stealing 
everything  we  left  there,"  suggested  Jesse. 

"Yes,  and  maybe  it's  his  house  that  we've 
moved  into,"  added  John. 

Rob,  the  older  of  the  boys,  and  the  one  on 
70 


THE    SAVAGE    REFUGEE 

whose  judgment  they  had  come  to  rely,  remained 
silent  a  moment. 

"Boys,"  said  he,  at  last,  "this  fellow  looks  like 
mischief  to  me.  We  can't  let  him  go  away,  to 
come  back  after  awhile  and  rob  us.  We  can't 
leave  his  gun  here  with  him  and  go  on  with  our 
work.  The  only  thing  we  can  do  is  to  take  him 
in  charge  for  a  while." 

"Let  me  get  his  gun  away  from  him,"  began 
John. 

Possibly  the  Aleut  understood  some  of  this,  for 
all  at  once  he  made  a  sudden  spring  and  caught 
at  his  gun. 

Quick  as  a  flash  Rob  covered  him  with  his  own 
rifle.  "No,  you  don't,"  he  said;  "drop  it!  That 
settles  it  for  you!" 

Again  the  Aleut  seemed  to  understand,  for  he 
stood  up,  tried  to  smile  again,  and  once  more 
held  out  his  hand. 

"Take  his  gun  and  chuck  it  in  the  boat,  Jess," 
commanded  Rob.  "Now  you  mush  on!"  he 
ordered  the  Aleut,  pointing  to  the  carcass  of  the 
bear.  ("  Mush  on,"  in  Alaska  dog-train  vernacu 
lar,  means  "march  on,"  being  a  corruption  from 
the  French  word  marchons.) 

The  native  sullenly  walked  on  ahead,  and  final 
ly  sat  down  by  the  side  of  the  bear. 
6  71 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"You  watch  him,  John,"  said  Rob.  "I've 
got  to  go  on  skinning  this  bear."  So  saying, 
he  resumed  his  work,  presently  rejoined  by 
Jesse. 

The  native  watched  them,  but  finally  began  to 
smile  at  their  clumsiness. 

"I'll  tell  you  what,"  said  Jesse;  "if  he's  so 
smart  about  this,  let's  make  him  help  skin." 

"A  good  idea!"  added  Rob.  He  began  to  make 
signs  to  the  Aleut.  "Here,  you,"  said  he,  "get 
up  and  go  to  work — and  keep  on  your  own  side 
of  the  bear." 

He  pointed  to  the  crooked  knife  which  he  saw 
in  the  native's  belt.  The  latter,  none  too  well 
pleased,  sulkily  arose  and  began  to  aid  in  skinning 
the  bear.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  it  was  not  the 
first  work  of  the  kind  he  had  done.  He  laid  the 
hide  off  in  folds,  with  long,  easy  strokes,  doing 
twice  as  much  work  as  all  the  other  three.  After 
a  time  the  boys  stopped  their  work  entirely  and 
stood  watching  him  with  admiration.  The  Aleut 
paid  no  attention  to  this,  but  went  on  with  his 
work,  once  in  awhile  helping  himself  to  a  piece 
of  raw  fat.  In  the  course  of  half  an  hour  or  so 
he  had  the  great  robe  spread  out  on  the  grass, 
with  the  difficult  work  of  skinning  out  the  feet 
all  done,  and  the  ears,  nose,  and  all  parts  of  the 

72 


THE    SAVAGE    REFUGEE 

head  skinned  out  without  leaving  a  slashed  spot 
on  the  hide. 

"This  beats  doing  it  ourselves!"  said  John,  who 
was  not  especially  fond  of  work. 

"We  ought  to  thank  him  some  way/'  said  Rob. 
"You  know  a  little  Chinook,  John;  why  don't 
you  talk  to  him?" 

John  grinned. 

"  Kla-how-yah,  tillicum !"  he  began.  "Klosh- 
tum-tum,  eh?  Skookum !  Skookum !" 

Again  the  Aleut  smiled  in  his  distorted  way, 
but  whether  or  not  he  understood  no  one  could 
tell. 

"What  did  you  say  to  him,  John?"  asked 
Jesse. 

"Asked  him  how  he  was;  told  him  that  we 
were  all  pretty  good  friends,  and  that  he  had 
done  mighty  good  work,"  interpreted  John, 
proudly. 

"Well,  it  didn't  seem  to  do  much  good,  any 
how,"  said  Rob.  "But  what  shall  we  call 
him?" 

"Call  him  Jimmy,"  said  Jesse.  "He  looks  as 
though  his  name  might  be  Jimmy  as  much  as 
anything  else." 

"All  right!"  agreed  their  leader.  "Here,  you, 
Jimmy,  catch  hold  here!  I'll  show  you  a  better 

73 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

way  of  getting  this  hide  up  to  camp  than  carrying 
it  there." 

He  motioned  that  they  should  put  the  hide  on 
the  deck  of  the  bidarka,  and  in  time  this  was 
done,  although  the  great  weight  of  the  green  hide, 
a  load  for  two  strong  men,  sunk  the  bidarka  so 
deeply  that  half  its  deck  was  covered. 

"Now  get  in,  Jimmy,"  ordered  Rob,  pointing 
to  the  rear  hatch.  The  native  stepped  in  lightly, 
paddle  in  hand,  and  showed  his  ability  to  handle 
the  little  craft,  even  heavily  loaded  as  it  now  was. 
Rob  pointed  up  the  creek,  but  with  a  sudden 
sweep  of  his  paddle  the  Aleut  turned  the  other 
way  and  started  for  the  sea. 

1  i  Quick,  get  the  guns !' '  cried  Rob.  1 1  Head  him 
off  across  the  bend!" 

Quick  as  were  their  movements,  they  were  none 
too  soon,  for  as  they  rushed  across  the  narrow- 
part  of  the  creek  bend  they  saw  the  Aleut  almost 
upon  them.  He  made  no  attempt  to  get  at  his 
gun,  which  was  buried  under  the  hides  in  the 
front  hatch,  but  was  paddling  with  all  his  might. 
Without  hesitation  Rob  fired  two  shots  into  the 
water  ahead  of  his  boat,  and  held  up  his  hand  in 
command  to  him  to  stop.  These  things  were 
language  that  even  an  Aleut  could  understand. 
Scowling  and  sullen,  he  slowly  paddled  up  to  the 

74 


THE    SAVAGE    REFUGEE 

bank.  He  understood  the  fierce  menace  of  the 
three  rifles  now  pointing  at  him.  This  time  he 
obeyed  the  gestures  made  to  him,  and,  turning 
about,  proceeded  to  paddle  slowly  up  the  creek, 
followed  by  the  boys  along  the  bank. 


XI 

A  TROUBLESOME  PRISONER 

WHEN  they  reached  the  lagoon  in  front  of 
the  barabbara  they  stood  for  a  time  closely 
watching  the  latter.  No  sign  of  any  visitor  ap 
peared,  however.  At  last  Rob  boldly  went  on, 
kicked  open  the  door,  and  called  to  the  others 
to  follow.  Evidently,  if  the  Aleut  had  any  com 
panion,  he  was  not  in  that  part  of  the  island. 

"You  watch  me  make  this  fellow  work,"  said 
John.  "I  know  a  few  words  of  Aleut  as  well  as 
some  Chinook.  Here,  you,  Jimmy,"  he  went  on, 
"sashgee  augone  !  Skora  /" 

To  the  surprise  of  all  the  Aleut  actually  smiled, 
as  though  in  pleasure  at  hearing  his  own  tongue. 

"Got  him  that  time!"  said  John,  importantly. 
"Why,  I  can  talk  to  these  people  all  right. 
Skora,  Jimmy!"  he  added,  sternly,  pointing  to 
the  fireplace. 

"Da/  Da!  Skora!"  said  the  Aleut,  and  be 
gan  to  hunt  about  for  wood. 

76 


A    TROUBLESOME    PRISONER 

"What  did  you  tell  him  that  time?"  asked 
Jesse. 

"Told  him  to  make  a  fire,  and  be  jolly  quick 
about  it,"  said  John.  "If  you  want  to  get  any 
thing  done,  come  to  me,  fellows.  Look  at  Jimmy 
build  that  fire!" 

In  truth  the  Aleut  seemed  to  accept  the  place 
assigned  him.  He  not  only  built  the  fire  in  the 
middle  of  the  hut,  but  picked  up  the  skillet  as  a 
matter  of  course,  wiped  it  out  with  some  dried 
grass,  put  into  it  some  of  the  bear  fat,  and  added 
a  part  of  the  liver  which  they  had  brought  along. 
He  handed  out  the  empty  pail  to  John,  grunting 
something  which  no  one  understood;  but  John, 
passing  the  pail  in  turn  to  Jesse,  said  he  thought 
that  what  the  Aleut  wanted  was  some  water  to 
boil. 

"Chi?"  asked  the  Aleut,  suddenly,  of  John. 

"Natu  chi,"  said  John  ("Haven't  got  any  tea"). 

In  reply  to  this  the  Aleut  stooped  down,  went 
out  of  the  door,  and  walked  over  to  the  bidarka, 
where  it  lay  at  the  bank.  Rob  followed  him  to 
see  that  he  attempted  no  treachery,  but  the 
Aleut  seemed  to  have  no  intention  of  that.  He 
pulled  out  from  his  boat  a  dried  seal-skin  or  two, 
his  old  blanket,  and  his  gun,  which  latter  Rob 
took  from  him. 

77 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"He's  been  hunting  and  fishing,"  said  Rob. 
"Looks  like  he  had  a  bear-hide  of  his  own  under 
neath  there.  He's  got  two  or  three  fresh  cod 
fish,  and  here's  his  cod-line  of  rawhide  —  with 
bone  sinkers.  And  here's  a  bow  and  some  bone- 
tipped  arrows,  besides  his  spear  there  on  the 
deck.  If  we  kept  his  rifle  and  turned  him  loose 
he  could  make  a  living  all  right." 

"But  we  don't  want  to  turn  him  loose,"  said 
John;  "he's  too  useful.  Look  at  that." 

The  Aleut  finally  produced  from  under  the  deck 
a  dirty  little  bag  tightly  tied. 

"Chi  /"  he  exclaimed,  holding  it  up  in  triumph. 

"You  see,"  said  John,  "we've  got  tea  all  right. 
Now  it  looks  to  me  that  we  could  get  a  pretty 
good  meal." 

By  the  time  the  Aleut  had  prepared  their  sup 
per  for  them,  and  had  made  each  a  tin  can  of  hot 
tea,  all  the  boys  began  to  feel  tired  and  sleepy, 
for  now  the  hour  of  night  was  well  advanced, 
although  the  Alaskan  sun  stood  well  above  the 
horizon. 

"I'm  mighty  sleepy,"  said  John,  yawning. 

"I  should  think  you  would  be,"  said  Jesse, 
"after  all  you  ate.  But  if  we're  sleepy,  why 
can't  we  go  to  sleep?" 

"That  would  never  do,"  spoke  up  Rob.     "We 

78 


A    TROUBLESOME    PRISONER 

don't  know  what  this  native  might  do  while  we 
were  all  asleep.  I've  been  thinking  that  over. 
It  seems  to  me  the  only  way  we  can  do  is  to  tie 
his  hands  together,  so  he  can't  do  any  harm,  and 
then  take  turns  in  standing  watch. " 

"Have  we  got  to  do  that  always?"  asked  John, 
sleepily. 

" We've  got  to  do  it  to-night,  at  least,"  said 
Rob,  emphatically.  "Take  that  piece  of  hide 
rope,  John,  tie  his  wrists  together,  and  pass  it 
down  to  his  ankles  behind  his  back.  He  can 
sleep  a  little  in  that  way,  at  least;  and  I'll  stand 
the  first  watch." 

The  Aleut,  not  doubting  at  the  first  of  these 
motions  that  they  intended  to  kill  him,  fell  upon 
his  knees  and  began  to  jabber,  apparently  beg 
ging  for  mercy.  At  last  he  grinned  as  he  looked 
down  at  his  manacled  hands,  and  presently,  with 
out  much  more  ado,  rolled  himself  over  on  his 
blankets  and  seemed  to  fall  asleep.  On  the  op 
posite  side  of  the  hut  Jesse  and  John  followed  his 
example,  and  soon  were  fast  in  real  sleep.  Rob 
sat  by  the  failing  fire,  his  rifle  across  his  knees. 
He,  too,  was  tired  with  the  work  of  the  day.  At 
times,  in  spite  of  himself,  his  head  would  drop 
forward  and  he  would  awake  with  a  start. 
79 


XII 

WAYS   OF   THE   WILDERNESS 

ROB  awoke  with  a  sudden  jerk.  A  slight 
sound  had  disturbed  him.  He  gazed  steadi 
ly  at  the  figure,  of  the  Aleut  in  the  faint  light  of 
the  embers.  The  latter  was  lying  quite  motion 
less,  but  something  caused  Rob  to  feel  suspicious. 
He  put  out  a  hand  and  awakened  his  two  com 
panions,  who  sat  up,  rubbing  their  eyes  sleepily. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Jesse.  "Where 
are  we,  and  what  sort  of  a  place  is  this  ?  My !  I 
was  dreaming,  and  I  thought  I  was  back  home  in 
bed." 

"John,"  said  Rob,  "crawl  over  and  look  at 
that  fellow's  fastenings.  I  thought  I  heard  him 
move.  Don't  be  afraid.  I'll  keep  him  covered 
with  the  rifle.  Build  up  the  fire  a  little." 

John  complied,  presently  stooping  down  to 
examine  the  cord  with  which  the  Aleut  had 
been  confined.  He  gave  an  exclamation.  "Why, 
he's  loose!  He's  gnawed  the  hide  clean  in  two 

80 


WAYS    OF    THE    WILDERNESS 

with  his  teeth.  He  could  have  got  away  any 
time  he  liked." 

Rob  admitted  his  fault.  "The  truth  is,"  said 
he,  "I  was  very  sleepy,  and  I  must  have  dozed 
off.  But  now,  what  shall  we  do?  Here  we've 
got  this  man,  and  he  evidently  doesn't  intend  to 
stay  a  minute  longer  than  he  can  help.  Whether 
he  would  hurt  us  or  not  is  something  we  can't 
tell;  but  we  don't  dare  take  the  chance." 

"  It  '11  be  a  great  deal  of  trouble  to  watch  him 
this  way  all  the  time,"  suggested  John. 

"True,  but  we  must  watch  him.  On  the  other 
hand,  what  right  have  we  to  take  him  prisoner, 
since  we  don't  know  that  he  ever  meant  any 
wrong?  We're  not  officers  of  the  law,  and  this 
man  has  not  committed  any  crime,  so  far  as  we 
know.  The  question  is,  what  would  he  do  to 
us  if  he  got  us  before  a  law-court  and  ac 
cused  us  with  making  him  a  prisoner  for  no 
cause?" 

The  three  sat  in  the  dim  light  of  the  hut  for  a 
time  and  pondered  over  these  matters.  At  length 
Rob  spoke  again  with  decision. 

"It's  the  greatest  good  for  the  greatest  num 
ber,"  said  he.  "It  seems  to  me  that  the  best 
thing  we  can  do  is  to  treat  this  man  well,  but  not 
let  him  get  away.  He  ought  to  do  his  share  of 

81 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

the  work,  and  he's  stronger  than  any  of  us.  Then, 
if  we  should  ever  be  rescued — " 

Jesse's  lips  began  to  twitch.  Evidently  he  was 
getting  rather  homesick.  Rob  noticed  his  face, 
and  went  on:  "Of  course  we  will  get  out  of  here 
before  long,  someway,"  he  said.  "  Mean  while, 
we  will  have  to  make  the  best  living  here  we  can. 
If  we  ever  get  this  man  to  a  white  settlement, 
where  we  can  find  out  who  and  what  he  is,  why, 
then,  we  can  pay  him  for  his  time,  if  it  should 
prove  that  he  is  only  an  innocent  native  hunting 
away  from  his  village.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
he  turns  out  to  be  a  criminal  of  any  kind,  then 
we've  had  a  right  to  arrest  him,  and  can't  get 
into  any  trouble  over  it." 

"It's  a  pretty  rough  joke  on  him,"  said  John, 
"if  he  hasn't  done  anything  wrong.  He  acts  as 
though  he  had  been  here  before.  For  all  we  can 
tell,  he  may  own  this  house  that  we've  taken 
over  for  ourselves.  The  only  thing  sure  is  that 
he's  a  better  hand  in  camp  than  we  are,  the  way 
things  stand  now.  I'm  for  keeping  him  and  let 
ting  him  work.  My  folks  '11  pay  him  whatever  is 
right,  if  it  comes  to  that;  and  you  never  saw  an 
Aleut  who  wasn't  glad  to  get  hold  of  a  little 
money,  I'll  warrant  that." 

"Well,"  said  Rob,  "we'll  let  it  stand  that  way. 

82 


WAYS    OF    THE    WILDERNESS 

And  now,  as  the  night  seems  to  be  about  half 
done,  suppose  you  and  Jess  keep  watch  togeth 
er  and  let  me  take  a  little  nap.  If  one  of  you 
gets  sleepy  the  other  can  waken  him.  I  suppose 
there's  no  use  tying  that  man  again,  for  he's  got 
teeth  like  a  beaver." 

The  Aleut  made  no  further  disturbance  during 
the  long  hours  of  waiting,  which  seemed  endless 
to  the  two  young  watchers.  At  last,  however, 
the  light  grew  stronger  in  the  dark  interior  of 
the  barabbara.  John  announced  his  entire  will 
ingness  to  eat  breakfast,  and,  pushing  open  the 
door,  motioned  for  the  Aleut  to  go  and  get  some 
wood.  Without  any  resistance  the  man  did  as 
he  was  bid,  shaking  the  remaining  thong  off  his 
wrist  with  a  grin.  They  finished  their  breakfast 
of  bear  meat  and  tea,  the  prisoner  seeming  im 
mensely  to  enjoy  the  biscuits  which  the  boys 
offered  him  as  pay  in  return  for  his  contribution 
of  tea. 

"Now,  what's  on  the  programme  for  to-day?" 
asked  John,  finally.  ' '  It  certainly  looks  as  though 
we  ought  to  take  care  of  all  that  meat." 

"Yes,"  assented  Rob.  "We'll  see  if  we  can't 
dry  some  of  it,  at  least.  Suppose  you  go  on 
down  the  creek,  John,  and  keep  the  crows  and 
eagles  away  from  the  meat,  while  the  rest  of  us 

83 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

bring  the  boat  down  the  beach  and  into  the 
mouth  of  the  creek.  That  '11  give  us  plenty  of 
boat  room  to  bring  up  quite  a  cargo  of  meat  to 
the  camp  here." 

" There's  another  thing  we  ought  to  do/'  said 
John,  "and  that  is  to  put  up  some  kind  of  a 
signal  in  case  a  boat  should  come  down  into  the 
bay  here.  Of  course  Uncle  Dick  will  be  looking 
for  us,  and  there  might  be  a  boat  in  here  almost 
any  day." 

"  That's  a  capital  idea !"  exclaimed  Rob.  "  Now, 
Jesse,  if  you'll  get  a  long  pole  and  tie  this  hand 
kerchief  to  it,  I'll  meet  you  over  at  the  dory  with 
the  other  things  which  we'll  need  on  our  trip  this 
morning." 

Rob  left  the  Aleut's  gun  on  the  deck  of  the 
bidarka,  but  carried  along  his  hide  fishing-line 
and  both  the  bidarka  paddles.  His  own  rifle  and 
that  of  Jesse  he  put  in  one  end  of  the  dory,  op 
posite  the  seat  where  he  intended  the  Aleut  to  sit. 
Telling  Jesse  to  watch  the  latter,  he  once  more 
ascended  to  the  top  of  the  sea-wall,  and  here 
erected  his  signal-flag,  piling  up  a  heap  of  stones 
at  the  foot  of  the  staff.  Long  and  anxiously  he 
gazed  out  toward  the  mouth  of  the  bay,  but  only 
the  long  green  billows  of  the  sea  came  rolling  in, 
unbroken  by  any  sail  or  cloud  of  smoke.  Across 

84 


WAYS    OF    THE    WILDERNESS 

the  bay,  a  half-dozen  miles  or  so,  the  great  moun 
tains  stood  grim  and  silent,  the  tops  of  many  of 
them  wreathed  in  fog.  It  was  a  wild  and  desolate 
scene,  and  one  to  try  the  courage  of  any  young 
adventurer.  But  Rob,  seeing  how  homesick  Jesse 
was  becoming,  did  his  best  to  cheer  him  as  he 
joined  him  at  the  dory. 

" Plenty  to  do  to-day!"  he  said.  "And  now 
for  a  good  boat  ride.  It's  lucky  we've  so  good  a 
sea-boat  along  as  this  dory — it's  far  safer  than 
Jimmy's  bidarka  over  there." 

Rob  seated  himself  at  the  stern  and  put  Jesse 
in  the  bow.  He  motioned  to  the  Aleut  to  take 
up  the  oars  and  row,  and  the  latter,  without  ob 
jection,  skilfully  got  the  dory  out  through  the 
surf,  and  at  once  proved  himself  master  of  the 
white  man's  oars  as  well  as  the  native  paddle. 
The  wind  was  coming  astern,  and  their  run  of 
something  like  a  mile  down  to  the  mouth  of  the 
creek  was  made  rapidly.  Just  around  the  point 
from  the  mouth  of  the  stream  Rob  motioned  to 
the  Aleut  to  stop  rowing. 

"It  looks  deep  here,"  said  he  to  Jesse.  "May 
be  we  could  get  a  codfish.  Here,  Jimmy,  take  a 
try  with  your  own  fishing-line." 

The  Aleut  grinned  as  Rob  tossed  him  his  rough- 
looking  line  of  hide,  and  at  once  set  to  work.  Nor 

85 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

did  he  prove  inefficient,  even  with  this  rough 
tackle  of  hide  and  bone.  He  baited  the  crude 
hook  with  a  piece  of  meat  which  he  took  from 
his  pocket,  and  dropped  it  overboard  in  twenty 
fathoms  of  water.  Motioning  to  Rob  to  keep  the 
boat  steady,  he  began  to  pull  the  line  up  and 
down  in  long,  steady  jerks.  Before  long  he  gave 
a  short  grunt  and  began  to  pull  it  in  rapidly 
hand  over  hand.  Rob  and  Jesse,  gazing  over 
the  side,  at  length  saw  the  gleam  of  a  large  fish 
deep  down  in  the  water.  The  Aleut,  with  another 
grunt,  pulled  the  fish  in,  swung  it  over  the  sides, 
and  threw  it  flopping  at  the  bottom  of  the  dory. 
It  was  a  fine  codfish  weighing  perhaps  a  dozen 
pounds. 

"Well,  I'll  say  one  thing,"  said  Jesse,  finally, 
smiling:  "since  we  have  to  make  a  living  for 
ourselves,  this  is  about  as  easy  as  any  coun 
try  we  could  have  gotten  into.  Try  it  again, 
Jimmy." 

Whether  or  not  Jimmy  understood  any  English 
they  never  knew,  but  at  least  he  cast  over  his 
bone  hook  once  more,  and,  continuing  his  opera 
tions  as  the  dory  slowly  drifted,  in  less  than  half 
an  hour  he  had  eight  fine  fish  aboard. 

"That  '11  do,  old  man!"  said  Rob  to  him,  and 
motioned  to  him  now  to  row  into  the  mouth 

86 


WAYS    OF    THE    WILDERNESS 

the  creek  which  was  nearly  opposite.  They  now 
could  see  John  waiting  for  them  on  the  shore. 
He  had  seen  them  fishing,  and  congratulated 
them  on  their  fine  catch,  agreeing  with  Jesse  that 
certainly  they  at  least  would  not  lack  abundance 
to  eat. 

"I've  heard  you  can  make  salt  by  boiling  sea- 
water/'  said  John,  who,  although  a  hearty  eater, 
was  sometimes  rather  particular  about  his  food. 
"That  is  almost  the  only  thing  we  need  that  we 
haven't  got  now.  Our  little  sack  won't  last  for 
ever." 

"Yes,"  said  Rob,  "it  would  be  all  the  better 
for  our  bear  meat  in  this  moist  climate.  But 
we'll  have  to  do  the  best  we  can  by  drying  it 
with  smoke." 

They  now  pulled  the  dory  into  the  mouth  of 
the  little  creek,  turning  it  at  the  face  of  the  high 
rock  wall,  and  noticing  the  thousands  of  salmon 
that  swam  round  and  round  the  deep  pool  just 
above  the  entrance  of  the  stream.  From  this 
point  up  the  crooked  bends  to  the  place  where 
the  dead  bears  lay  was  perhaps  a  quarter  of  a 
mile.  But  presently  they  all  met  there. 

"There  is  pretty  near  a  ton  of  meat,"  said 
Rob,  looking  down  at  the  dead  bears.  "We 
ought  to  have  skinned  those  young  bears  yester- 

7  87 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

day,  but  will  do  that  now  before  they  spoil. 
Then  maybe  we  can  make  Jimmy  understand 
what  we  want  to  do  about  saving  the  meat." 

They  all  fell  to  work  now,  the  boys  at  one  of 
the  cubs  and  the  Aleut  at  the  other.  The  latter, 
with  a  grin  of  triumph,  held  up  his  fresh  hide  en 
tirely  skinned  out  before  the  three  boys  together 
had  finished  theirs.  In  some  way  he  seemed  to 
understand  what  they  wished  to  have  done  about 
the  meat,  perhaps  himself  being  inclined  to  see 
that  plenty  of  food  was  on  hand,  since  his  captors 
were  not  disposed  to  let  him  go  away.  The 
Aleuts,  who  never  see  any  fresh  beef,  and  who 
live  in  a  country  where  not  even  caribou  are 
often  found,  are  very  fond  of  bear  meat,  which 
the  more  civilized  ones  call  "beef."  The  captive 
seemed  to  understand  perfectly  well  how  to  take 
care  of  this  "beef,"  and  he  took  out  the  long 
tenderloins  from  the  back  of  each  cub  and  sep 
arated  the  hams.  For  the  big  bear  he  did  not 
seem  to  care  so  much,  and  made  signs  to  show 
that  it  was  tough  and  hard  to  eat.  Rob  insist 
ed,  however,  that  he  should  take  some  of  the 
choicer  parts  of  the  bear  also,  since  it  seemed  a 
shame  to  let  it  waste.  They  loaded  their  dory 
down  as  heavily  as  they  dared,  and  so,  dragging 
on  the  painter  and  poling  with  the  oars,  at  last 

88 


WAYS    OF    THE    WILDERNESS 

they  got  their  cargo  up  to  camp,  mooring  the 
dory  alongside  the  bidarka. 

Without  much  more  ado  Jimmy  began  to 
search  around  in  the  grass  and  found  some  long 
poles,  one  end  of  which  he  rested  on  the  roof  of 
the  barabbara,  supporting  the  other  on  some 
crotches  which  he  set  up.  Across  these  poles  he 
laid  smaller  sticks  and  made  a  rough  drying-rack. 
He  showed  the  boys  how  to  cut  the  meat  into 
long,  thin  strips,  and  under  this,  after  it  was 
stretched  on  the  rack,  he  built  a  small  fire,  so 
that  the  smoke  would  aid  the  sun  in  curing  the 
meat — none  too  sure  a  process  in  a  country  where 
rain  was  apt  to  come  at  any  hour.  After  this 
the  Aleut  turned  toward  the  dory,  and  hauled  out 
something  which  the  boys  had  not  noticed  before. 
He  busied  himself  at  the  edge  of  the  lagoon. 

"  What's  he  doing,  John?"  asked  Rob. 

They  all  stepped  up  and  watched  him. 

"Why,  that's  the  intestines  of  the  old  bear," 
said  Rob,  at  last.  "I  didn't  see  him  throw  them 
into  the  boat." 

"I  know  what  he's  doing,"  said  John.  "He's 
going  to  clean  'em  out.  They  make  all  sorts  of 
things.  For  instance,  that  hood  around  the  bi 
darka  is  made  out  of  this  sort  of  thing,  I  believe. 
And  then  they  make  other  outfits — " 

89 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"  Kamelinka!"  said  Jimmy,  suddenly,  holding 
up  a  part  of  the  intestines  and  smiling.  He  mo 
tioned  to  his  own  sleeves. 

"Da!  Da  /"  exclaimed  John,  in  Aleut  language. 
"Yes,  that's  so!  Sure! 

"He  means  he  is  going  to  make  one  of  their 
rain-coats  out  of  it,"  he  explained  to  the  others. 
"A  kamelinka  is  made  out  of  these  membranes, 
and  they  put  it  on  like  a  coat,  and  no  water  can 
get  through  it.  Didn't  you  ever  see  one?  They 
tear  if  they're  dry,  but  if  you  wet  them  they're 
tough,  and  no  water  will  go  through  them.  Mr. 
Jimmy  puts  on  his  kamelinka,  and  gets  in  the 
bidarka  and  ties  the  hood  around  his  waist,  and 
there  he  is,  no  matter  how  high  the  sea  runs. 
No  water  gets  into  the  boat,  and  when  he  comes 
home  he  is  dry  as  when  he  started.  Pretty  good 
scheme,  isn't  it?" 

They  watched  Jimmy  for  a  time  at  his  work 
before  they  finished  stretching  all  the  meat. 
Then  they  cleaned  the  codfish  and  put  them  in 
side  the  hut,  so  that  the  crows  could  not  get 
them.  Over  the  fresh  meat  on  the  scaffold  they 
now  spread  some  damp  grass,  because  it  was  their 
intention  to  leave  the  place  for  a  little  while. 

"We'll  make  a  hunt  this  afternoon,"  said  Rob, 
"and  see  whether  we  can  find  any  gull  eggs. 

90 


WAYS    OF    THE    WILDERNESS 

First  we  want  to  see  what  our  resources  are,  and 
after  that  we  can  help  ourselves  as  need  be." 

Accordingly,  after  they  had  taken  the  cargo 
out  of  the  dory,  and  thus  completed  their  labors 
for  the  time,  they  all  four  embarked  in  the  dory, 
pushed  rapidly  down  the  creek,  and  out  into  the 
open  waters  of  the  bay.  Here,  a  half-mile  ahead 
of  them,  below  the  mouth  of  the  creek,  they  saw 
some  rough  pinnacles  of  rock,  over  which  soared 
thousands  of  sea-birds.  As  they  approached 
these  rocks  they  found  a  narrow  beach  wide 
enough  to  hold  the  dory.  It  took  them  but  a 
few  moments'  climb  to  gather  all  the  eggs  they 
wanted.  These  they  were  obliged  to  carry  in 
their  pockets  or  in  the  folds  of  their  jackets. 
They  trusted  Jimmy  to  tell  them  which  were 
fresh.  Jimmy  seemed  always  to  know  what 
ought  to  be  done,  and  now  without  any  advice 
he  left  the  boys  and  proceeded  to  climb  up  to 
the  steeper  part  of  the  rocks,  where  the  nests  of 
the  gulls  and  sea-murres  were  so  thick  that  he 
could  scarcely  avoid  crushing  the  eggs  as  he 
walked.  Evidently  it  was  not  eggs  he  sought. 
Agile  as  a  cat,  he  climbed  to  the  top  of  a  sheer 
face  of  rock,  and  leaning  over  put  his  hand  into 
a  hole.  A  moment  later  the  boys  saw  a  dark 
body  hurtle  through  the  air  and  fall  on  the  beach. 

91 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

It  proved  to  be  a  stout,  heavy,  dark-colored  bird 
with  a  strong,  parrot-like  beak  and  a  crest  of  long 
yellow  feathers  on  each  side  of  the  head. 

" That's  a  sea-parrot,"  said  Rob,  picking  it  up. 
"Look  out,  Jesse,  there  comes  another!" 

Sure  enough,  one  after  another  of  the  dead  bod 
ies  of  the  sea-parrots  fell  on  the  narrow  beach, 
until  two  or  three  dozen  were  lying  there. 

Jimmy  ceased  his  labors,  climbed  down  the 
rocks,  and  calmly  began  to  skin  off  the  breast 
plumage  of  the  birds. 

"What's  he  doing  that  for?"  asked  Jesse  of 
Rob. 

"They're  not  good  to  eat,"  said  Rob,  "that's 
one  thing  sure.  I'll  tell  you  what — I've  seen 
some  dark-colored  feather  coats  and  blankets  at 
the  trader's  store  down  below  Valdez.  I'll  war 
rant  they  were  made  out  of  the  breasts  of  these 
very  sea-parrots  here." 

Whatever  were  Jimmy's  plans  he  could  not 
or  did  not  disclose  them.  After  a  time  he  threw 
his  heap  of  parrot-skins  into  the  front  of  the  dory, 
and  stood  waiting  at  the  side  of  the  boat,  as 
though  ready  to  go  home  if  the  others  wished  it. 
They  therefore  embarked  for  return  to  their 
camp. 


XIII 

MAKING   A  LIVING 

"TF  any  of  our  people  were  along,"  said  John, 
JL  as  they  headed  the  dory  back  toward  the 
mouth  of  the  creek,  "I  would  say  we  could  have 
a  pretty  good  time  here." 

11 1  don't  doubt,"  answered  Rob,  "that  we  can 
get  along  all  summer  without  trouble.  I  believe, 
too,  that  the  natives  come  here  so  often  we  may 
be  able  to  send  out  word  even  if  we  can't  get  out 
ourselves.  We  can't  possibly  be  a  hundred  miles 
from  Kadiak  town,  and  although  we  might  get 
there  in  our  dory,  the  chances  are  so  much  against 
it  that  I  think  we  would  do  better  to  stay  right 
where  we  are  for  a  time  at  least.  As  we  were 
saying  not  long  ago,  this  country  furnishes  a 
living  without  much  trouble." 

"And  without  much  work,"  added  John,  "as 
long  as  we  have  Jimmy." 

"He's  stronger  than  we  are,"  admitted  Rob; 
"still,  each  of  us  must  do  his  share  of  the  work 

93 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

around  camp,  because  that's  the  only  right  way 
to  do.  He's  a  good  teacher,  for  we're  in  his  coun 
try  and  will  have  to  live  in  his  way —  What's 
on  his  mind  now,  do  you  suppose?"  Rob  con 
tinued,  as  Jimmy  suddenly  stopped  rowing  and 
began  to  look  keenly  off  toward  shore. 

"I  see  him!"  exclaimed  Jesse,  eagerly.  "It's 
a  seal!  Look  at  him!" 

About  sixty  yards  away  there  was  a  round  ob 
ject  with  two  shining  spots  on  it  standing  just 
above  the  water — the  head  of  a  seal  which  was 
closely  examining  the  strange  object  which  ap 
proached  it.  All  at  once,  as  they  looked  at  it, 
the  seal  suddenly  sank  out  of  sight.  Without 
instruction  the  Aleut  now  bent  to  his  oars  as 
hard  as  he  could,  and  hurried  to  the  beach  which 
lay  not  far  beyond.  Hurriedly  pulling  the  dory 
up,  he  motioned  to  Rob  to  get  out  with  his  rifle. 

"There  he  is  again!"  called  John,  pointing. 
"He's  closer  in  now.  Look,  he  isn't  a  hundred 
yards  away!  You  try  him,  Rob;  you're  the  best 
shot." 

Crouching  down,  Rob  hurried  toward  a  big 
rock  which  lay  at  the  water's  edge.  Here  he 
rested  his  rifle  and,  taking  quick  aim,  fired.  The 
splash  of  the  ball  on  top  of  the  intervening  wave 
showed  that  he  had  missed.  Once  more  the  seal 

94 


MAKING    A    LIVING 

sank,  but  in  the  course  of  a  few  minutes  it  ap 
peared  yet  again,  this  time  still  closer  in.  Care 
fully  Rob  fired  a  second  time,  and  this  time  they 
all  heard  distinctly  the  thud  of  the  bullet,  which 
proved  that  the  shot  had  struck  true.  With  a 
splash  the  seal  disappeared,  but  giving  a  shout 
the  Aleut  pushed  off  the  dory  and  called  to  them 
all  to  get  in.  In  a  few  moments  he  brought  them 
alongside  the  still  struggling  body  of  the  seal, 
which  appeared  now  above  and  now  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  water.  Hurriedly  catching  up  his 
long  spear,  the  native  made  a  thrust  at  the  seal 
and  fastened  it  with  the  barb,  and  with  many 
grunting  chuckles  drew  it  alongside.  Soon,  with 
a  heave,  he  got  it  inboard — a  small  hair  seal  not 
much  more  than  three  feet  in  length. 

"  Karosha  /"  exclaimed  the  Aleut,  with  a  grin. 

"He  means  that  it's  good — that  it's  all  right," 
explained  John,  who  seemed  to  be  the  official  in 
terpreter. 

"Well,  I  don't  believe  that  I  care  to  eat  seal 
meat,"  said  Rob;  "but  maybe  Jimmy  knows 
what  he  can  do  with  the  hide,  or  something  else. 
We'll  skin  Mr.  Seal  and  peg  his  hide  out  up  at 
the  camp.  It's  time  now  we  got  the  bear  hides 
stretched  so  that  they  can  begin  to  dry." 

Much  elated  with  their  successful  day's  work, 

95 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

the  boys  now  assisted  the  native  in  stretching  all 
the  green  hides,  flesh  side  upward.  The  native 
showed  them  how  to  flesh  and  scrape  the  hides, 
and  they  spent  an  hoar  or  so  at  this  until  each 
complained  that  his  back  was  aching. 

"Suppose  we  cross  the  creek  and  take  a  little 
climb  up  the  mountain  -  side,"  suggested  Rob. 
"We  can  get  a  good  look  out  from  there." 

"All  right,"  said  John.  "Of  course  we'll  have 
to  take  our  tiUicum  along.  Mush  on,  Jimmy!" 

The  Aleut,  although  apparently  a  native  of  the 
country  where  the  language  of  the  dog-train  was 
little  known,  nevertheless  seemed  to  understand 
the  Alaskan,  command  to  "March!"  He  stood 
ready,  only  looking  to  see  which  way  they  wished 
him  to  go.  Rob  set  off  in  advance,  and  they  all 
splashed  through  the  waters  of  the  shallows  at 
the  lower  end  of  the  lagoon. 

"Here's  where  Jimmy  has  a  good  deal  the  best 
of  us,"  said  Rob,  pointing  to  their  wet  feet.  "Our 
shoes  will  be  gone  in  a  little  while;  but  look  at 
his  seal  boots  with  high  tops.  They  keep  his 
feet  dry." 

"They  call  them  tabosas"  said  John.  "The 
Eskimos  use  boots  like  that,  but  they  call  them 
mukluks.  You  see,  I  used  to  know  a  native  from 
up-coast  who  was  a  waiter  in  a  restaurant  at  Val- 

96 


MAKING    A    LIVING 

dez.  That's  how  I  picked  up  my  knowledge  of  the 
Aleut  language — which,  you  see,  is  quite  consider 
able,"  he  concluded,  swelling  out  his  chest  a  trifle. 

"I  see  now  why  he  wanted  that  seal,"  com 
mented  Rob.  "  Every  country  has  its  own  way 
of  getting  along,  hasn't  it  ?  Now,  I  suppose  Jimmy 
here  is  about  as  comfortable  when  he  is  at  home 
as  we  are  in  our  houses  down  in  Valdez;  and  he 
certainly  does  know  how  to  make  his  living  off 
the  country." 

They  now  continued  their  slow  climb  up  the 
steep  mountain-side,  which  lay  beyond  the  little 
creek.  Here  the  deep  moss  or  tundra  extended 
quite  to  the  top  of  the  smallest  peak,  but  al 
though  heavy  snow  -  fields  lay  at  the  top,  the 
spring  sunshine  had  now  melted  the  snow  at  the 
lower  levels,  so  that  continually  they  were  walk 
ing  in  little  pools  of  ice-water,  none  too  pleasant 
to  persons  shod  as  they  were. 

Jesse,  the  youngest  of  the  party,  now  and  then 
stopped  for  a  moment  to  catch  his  breath;  and, 
in  fact,  he  seemed  none  too  happy  with  some  of 
these  hardships  of  their  experience. 

"Come  on,"  said  Rob;  "we'll  stop  when  we 
get  to  the  thicket  just  up  above  there.  Jimmy 
acts  as  though  he  was  looking  for  something  up 
there— I  don't  know  what." 

97 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

They  toiled  on  upward,  now  and  again  turning 
to  look  at  the  great  expanse  of  country  which  lay 
below  them — the  wide  bay  shining  in  the  sun 
light,  the  magnificent  panorama  of  the  moun 
tains  beyond,  and  the  line  of  the  deep  sea  beyond 
the  entrance  to  the  bay.  They  turned  as  they 
heard  a  sudden  exclamation  from  Jimmy,  who 
was  prowling  at  the  edge  of  the  alder  thicket 
where  they  had  stopped  for  the  moment.  As  he 
pointed  down  they  saw  the  surface  of  the  ground 
among  the  alders  ripped  up  as  though  by  a  giant 
plough. 

Jimmy  held  up  three  fingers  and  pointed  below 
toward  their  camp,  the  smoke  of  whose  fire  they 
could  dimly  see.  At  first  they  could  not  under 
stand  him,  until  he  made  motions  as  if  digging, 
and  swung  his  head  from  side  to  side,  grunting 
in  such  plain  imitation  of  a  bear  that  they  could 
not  mistake.  Then  they  saw  that  this  had  prob 
ably  been  the  feeding-ground  of  the  three  bears 
which  they  had  killed.  Apparently  the  bears  had 
been  living  high  up  in  the  mountains  for  a  long 
time,  waiting  for  the  salmon  run  to  begin.  The 
country  was  all  torn  up  where  they  had  dug  for 
roots  and  bulbs. 

"Well,  now,  what's  Jimmy  going  to  do  this 
time?"  asked  Jesse,  interested. 

98 


MAKING    A    LIVING 

The  Aleut,  talking  to  himself  in  some  unknown 
words,  was  down  on  his  hands  and  knees,  himself 
digging  in  the  holes  among  the  alders. 

"Karosha  /"  said  he,  at  length,  holding  up  sev 
eral  long,  white  bulbs  about  as  thick  as  his  fin 
ger;  and  he  made  a  motion  as  though  to  eat 
them. 

"  Ah,  ha!"  said  Rob.  "This  is  an  Aleut  potato- 
patch,  it  seems.  All  right,  we'll  just  gather  some 
of  these  and  use  them  for  vegetables.  They'll 
help  out  the  meat  and  fish,  perhaps." 

As  Jimmy  dug  the  bulbs  they  put  them  into 
the  folds  of  their  jackets  and  sweaters  until  they 
had  a  good  supply.  After  this  they  made  their 
way  down  the  mountain,  splashed  through  the 
creek  again,  and  threw  down  their  new  discoveries 
beside  the  meat  scaffold.  Jimmy  indulged  in  a 
broad  smile. 

" Plenty  soup!"  said  he,  suddenly. 

"The  beggar!"  said  Rob.  "I  shouldn't  won 
der  if  he  understood  English  as  well  as  we  do!" 

They  could  not,  however,  induce  him  to  use 
any  further  words  than  this,  which  is  common 
among  the  Aleuts  as  the  meaning  of  "food"  or 
"plenty  to  eat,"  they  having  got  this  word  from 
their  association  with  English-speaking  persons. 
The  Aleut  language  now  is  a  mongrel,  made  up 

99 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

largely  of  Russian,  with  many  native  words  and 
a  few  of  English. 

Jimmy  proceeded  to  show  that  he  meant  to  use 
in  his  "soup"  some  of  these  bulbs  which  they  had 
brought  down,  for  now  he  began  to  strip  them 
down  to  the  clean  white  inner  portion  and  half 
filled  their  water-can  with  them,  presently  set 
ting  it  on  the  fire  to  stew.  The  boys  never  knew 
the  name  of  this  bulb,  but  they  found  it  not  un 
pleasant  to  eat — rather  sweetish  and  insipid  with 
out  salt,  however. 

They  were  all  very  tired  that  night;  but  they 
felt  it  necessary  to  keep  some  watch  upon  their 
Aleut  prisoner,  obliging  as  he  had  proved  himself 
throughout  the  day.  Again  Rob  stood  the  first 
watch,  until  he  grew  so  sleepy  that  he  was  obliged 
to  waken  the  others.  Thus  the  long  and  uncom 
fortable  night  wore  away,  the  prisoner  being  the 
only  one  who  slept  undisturbed. 


"..'  '•'<  °   '•>*  • 
XIV 

THE   SURPRISE 

AS  daylight  began  to  shine  more  clearly  in 
-£JL  the  interior  of  the  barabbara,  John,  who 
was  standing  the  last  watch,  suddenly  reached 
out  an  arm  and  wakened  his  companion.  "Lis 
ten  !"  he  whispered.  "  I  hear  something  outside." 

As  they  all  sat  up  on  the  blankets  they  were 
surprised  to  see  their  prisoner  also  waken  and 
lift  himself  half  on  his  elbow.  He,  too,  seemed 
to  be  listening  eagerly  and  to  feel  some  sort  of 
alarm. 

"Some  one  is  coming!"  said  Rob.  Now,  in 
deed,  there  was  no  doubt.  They  heard  shuffling 
foot -falls  and  many  voices  in  some  confused 
speech  which  they  could  not  understand. 

"I'm  afraid!"  said  Jesse.  "They're  not  white 
people." 

Rob  raised  a  warning  hand  that  they  should 
all  be  silent.    At  last  a  loud  voice  called  out  to 
them  in  broken  English: 
101 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"White  mans  there!  You  come  out!  Me  good 
mans !  AJ1  good  mans !" 

.The  faces  of  all  inside  the  hut  were  now  very 
serious,  for  they  did  not  know  what  might  be  the 
nature  of  these  visitors,  and  there  was  no  window 
or  crack  through  which  they  could  peer.  Jimmy 
made  no  motion  to  go  out  of  the  door,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  was  trying  to  hide  behind  the  pile  of 
fox-traps  under  the  low  eaves. 

"One  thing  is  certain,"  said  Rob,  with  deter 
mination:  "we're  trapped  in  here,  and  can't  get 
out  without  their  seeing  us,  whoever  they  are. 
So  come  on  and  let's  go  out  and  face  them.  Are 
you  ready  now?" 

The  others,  silent  and  anxious,  crawled  close 
behind  him  as  he  pushed  open  the  door  and 
sprang  out,  rifle  in  hand. 

They  found  themselves  surrounded  by  nearly 
a  score  of  natives — short,  squat  fellows  with  wild, 
black  hair,  most  of  them  in  half-civilized  gar 
ments.  They  bore  all  sorts  of  weapons,  some  of 
them  having  rifles,  others  short  harpoons,  and 
bows  and  arrows.  A  large,  dark-faced  native 
seemed  to  be  their  leader,  and  seeing  the  boys 
now  ready  to  defend  themselves,  he  shifted  his 
gun  to  his  left  hand  and  held  out  his  right  with 
a  smile,  continuing  his  broken  English. 
102 


THE    SURPRISE 

"Good  mans  me,"  he  said.  "You  good  mans. 
Plenty  fliend,  all  light,  all  light,  all  light!" 

He  continued  to  repeat  these  last  words  as 
though  they  would  serve  for  the  rest  of  the  con 
versation.  Rob,  willing  enough  to  accept  his  as 
surance  of  friendship,  shook  him  by  the  hand, 
all  the  time,  however,  keeping  his  eyes  open  for 
the  wild-looking  group  around  him. 

"Come  dat  ways,  bidarka!"  .said  the  chief, 
pointing  to  the  beach  beyond  the  sea-wall.  "Hunt 
bad  mans.  You  see  -  um  bad  mans  ?  Him 
steal." 

John  touched  Rob  quietly  on  the  arm  and 
whispered  to  him:  "He  means  Jimmy,"  he  said. 
"They  are  after  him,  and  he  knows  it.  That's 
why  he  wouldn't  come  out." 

"You  see-um  bad  mans?"  asked  the  chief, 
eagerly.  "Him  there?"  He  pointed  at  the  door 
of  the  barabbara,  and  would  have  stepped  over 
to  look  in.  Rob  moved  in  front  of  him. 

"No!"  he  said.  "All  good  mans  here.  What 
you  want?" 

"No  want-um  white  mans,"  answered  the  chief. 
"Village  over  dar."  He  pointed  across  the 
mountains. 

Rob  guessed  that  these  natives  had  therefore 
followed  around  the  coast-line  from  their  town, 
8  103 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

although  he  was  not  yet  clear  as  to  their  purpose 
in  coming  hither. 

"You  got-um  bad  mans  here,"  said  the  chief, 
sternly,  at  last.  "  See-um  boat  dar."  He  pointed 
to  the  bidarka  at  the  edge  of  the  lagoon. 

"What  you  do  with  bad  mans?"  asked  Rob. 

"Plenty  shoot-um!"  answered  the  chief,  stern 
ly,  slapping  the  stock  of  his  gun.  "Him  steal! 
Him  steal  dis !  Steal-um  nogock !  All  time  my 
peoples  no  get-um  whale.  Him  steal-um  nogock  /" 

Rob  was  puzzled. 

"Now  what  in  the  world  do  you  suppose  he 
means?"  asked  he  of  John.  "And  what  is  that 
thing  he's  got?" 

The  chief  was  holding  up  a  strange-looking 
object  in  his  hand — a  short,  dark-colored,  tapering 
stick,  with  hand-holes  and  finger-grips  cut  into 
the  lower  end,  and  with  a  long  groove  running 
toward  the  small  end,  which  was  finished  with 
an  ivory  tip. 

"I  saw  that  thing  in  the  boat,"  said  John. 
"That  must  be  what  he  means  by  nogock.  I 
don't  see  how  they  would  kill  a  whale  with  it, 
though,  or  anything  else." 

The  chief  evidently  understood  their  ignorance. 
With  a  smile  he  fitted  to  the  groove  of  the  short 
stick  the  shaft  of  a  short  harpoon,  whose  head, 

104 


THE    SURPRISE 

about  a  foot  and  a  half  in  length,  they  now  dis 
covered  to  be  made  of  thin,  dark  slate,  ground 
sharp  on  each  edge  and  at  the  point.  When  the 
chief  had  fitted  the  butt  of  this  dart  against  the 
ivory  tip,  he  grasped  the  lower  end  of  the  nogock 
firmly  in  his  hand,  steadying  the  shaft  in  the 
groove  with  one  finger.  He  then  drew  this  back, 
with  his  arm  at  full  length  above  his  head,  and 
made  a  motion  as  though  to  throw  the  harpoon. 
In  short,  the  boys  now  had  an  excellent  chance 
to  see  one  of  the  oldest  aboriginal  inventions — 
the  throwing-stick,  used  from  Australia  to  Siberia 
by  various  tribes  in  one  form  or  another.  As 
they  themselves  had  sometimes  thrown  a  crab- 
apple  from  a  stick  in  their  younger  days  in  the 
States,  they  could  readily  see  that  the  greater 
length  added  to  the  arm  gave  greater  leverage 
and  power. 

"I'll  bet  he  could  make  that  old  thing  whiz," 
muttered  John.  "Still,  I  don't  see  how  he  could 
hurt  a  whale  with  it." 

None  of  them  knew  at  that  time  anything  about 
the  native  Aleut  method  of  whale-killing.  Neither 
did  they  know  that  the  nogock,  or  whale-killing 
weapon,  is  a  sacred  object  in  the  native  villages, 
where  it  is  always  kept  in  the  charge  of  the  head 
man,  or  leader  in  the  whale-hunts,  who  wraps  it 
105 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

up  carefully  and  hides  it  from  view.  The  Aleuts 
never  allow  the  women  of  their  villages  to  look 
at  the  nogock,  saying  that  it  brings  bad  luck  for 
any  one  to  look  at  it  or  touch  it  except  the  chief 
himself.  Therefore,  had  the  boys  known  that 
their  prisoner  had  stolen  this  sacred  object,  as 
well  as  the  bidarka  and  much  of  its  cargo,  they 
would  better  have  understood  the  nature  of  this 
pursuit  and  the  intentness  of  the  Aleut  chief  to 
punish  the  offender,  who  had  been  guilty  of  a 
crime  held,  in  their  eyes,  to  be  as  bad  or  worse 
than  murder. 

Not,  however,  understanding  all  these  things, 
and  being  very  well  disposed  toward  their  cap 
tive,  who  had  been  of  such  service  to  them,  the 
boys  were  not  willing  to  turn  him  over  at  once 
to  these  people  whom  he  so  evidently  feared,  and 
who  with  so  little  ado  announced  their  intention 
of  killing  him.  For  the  time  Rob  could  think  of 
nothing  better  than  continuing  the  parley. 

"You  got-um  bad  mans!"  asserted  the  chief 
again. 

"One  mans,"  admitted  Rob.  "Maybe  so  good 
mans;  we  don't  know." 

"Where  you  comes?"  asked  the  chief,  present 
ly,  looking  about  him.  "This  my  house  here. 
White  mans  come  here  now?" 

106 


THE    SURPRISE 

Rob  did  not  think  it  best  to  admit  that  they 
were  castaway  and  lost  on  these  distant  shores, 
so  he  determined  to  put  on  a  bold  front. 

"Heap  hunt  here/'  he  said,  pointing  to  the 
meat  and  the  hides  stretched  on  the  ground. 
"  Kill  three  bear.  Catch-um  plenty  fish.  By-and- 
by  schooner  come." 

"When  schooner  come?"  asked  the  chief,  with 
a  cunning  gleam  in  his  eye. 

"Pretty  soon,  by-and-by,"  said  Rob,  sternly. 
"Plenty  white  mans  come  pretty  soon." 

The  chief  was  not  to  be  balked  of  his  purpose, 
and  kept  edging  toward  the  door  of  the  barabbara. 
"  Kill-um  bad  mans,"  he  muttered.  "  Him  steal." 

Rob,  seeing  that  he  was  bent  on  this,  and  un 
able  to  dissuade  him  from  his  certainty  that  the 
fugitive  was  inside  the  hut,  for  the  moment 
scarcely  knew  what  to  do. 

"No  touch-um  mans!"  he  finally  commanded, 
sternly.  "White  mans  come  here  by-and-by— 
Uncle  Sam  white  mans.  Suppose  bad  mans  steal; 
Uncle  Sam  catch-um.  You  no  touch-um  bad 
mans!" 

The  chief  hesitated,  for  he  knew  perfectly  well 

that  all  the  villages  of  this  island  were  under 

control  of  United  States  law,  and  although  the 

natives  sometimes  kept  their  own  counsel  and 

107 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

wreaked  their  own  punishment  on  those  whom 
they  held  to  be  offenders,  they  were,  if  detected, 
certain  to  be  held  to  account  by  the  United  States 
government,  which  holds  control  over  all  this 
country  to  the  uttermost  point  of  the  Aleutian 
Islands,  although  little  enough  law  reaches  enact 
ment  in  these  far-off  regions.  As  he  hesitated 
the  chief  turned  away  from  the  door,  and  the 
Aleuts  now  began  to  jabber  among  themselves. 
They  pointed  to  the  meat,  and  made  signs  that 
they  were  hungry. 

"Da,  karosha!"  assented  Rob,  who  was  begin 
ning  to  learn  Aleut  from  his  friend  John. 

He  motioned  them  to  help  themselves.  With 
out  much  more  ado  the  natives  proceeded  to  take 
off  pieces  of  the  meat  from  the  scaffold,  and  draw 
ing  a  little  apart  they  built  a  fire.  Rob  observed 
that  they  used  matches,  and  so  knew  that  they 
must  be  in  touch  with  civilization  at  least  once 
in  a  while. 

'It's  all  right,  Jess,"  said  he.  "We're  going 
to  get  out  of  here  sure  before  very  long.  These 
people  can  take  us  to  the  settlements  any  time 
they  feel  like  it.  I  only  wish  we  could  talk  more 
of  their  language  or  they  more  of  ours." 

The  Aleuts  for  the  time  did  not  talk  much  of 
any  language,  for  presently  their  mouths  were 
108 


THE    SURPRISE 

too  full  for  speech.  Each  would  stuff  his  mouth 
full  of  meat,  and  then  with  his  knife  cut  off  a 
piece  so  close  to  his  lips  as  would  seem  to  en 
danger  his  nose. 

"We  won't  have  much  meat  wasted  if  they 
stay  around/'  remarked  John,  ruefully.  "For 
my  part,  I  wish  they'd  go.  It's  trouble  enough 
to  take  care  of  one  native,  let  alone  more  than 
a  dozen." 

The  chief  seemed  to  be  actuated  with  some 
sense  of  fair-play,  or  else  wished  to  continue  in 
the  good  graces  of  the  whites.  Some  of  the  men 
began  to  boil  a  kettle  and  to  make  tea.  The 
chief  picked  up  the  bag  of  tea  and  made  a  gest 
ure  of  inquiry  of  Rob.  "Chi?"  he  asked. 

Rob  shook  his  head,  and  made  a  motion  sig 
nifying  that  they  had  but  very  little.  The  chief 
poured  out  in  his  hands  what  must  have  repre 
sented  to  him  considerable  value  in  tea. 

"Now  ask  him  for  salt,  John,"  said  Rob. 

This  was  too  much  for  John's  knowledge  of  the 
Aleut  language.  He  got  a  little  red  in  the  face 
as  he  admitted  this. 

"Here,  you  mans,"  he  said.  "You  got-ums 
salt?" 

The  chief  shook  his  head. 

"Salt!    Salt-urns!    Heap  salt!"  went  on  John, 
109 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

frowning.  He  made  a  motion  as  of  sprinkling 
something  on  the  meat,  then  touched  his  fingers 
to  his  mouth,  smacking  his  lips. 

The  chief  grinned  broadly.  "Da!  Karosha!" 
He  jabbered  something  to  one  of  his  men,  and 
the  latter  went  down  the  path  toward  the  beach. 
Evidently  he  had  supplies  there,  for  in  a  few 
moments  he  returned  carrying  a  dirty  sack  in 
his  hand.  The  chief  took  this  in  his  hand  and 
grinned,  addressing  John. 

"Salt,  salt-urn,  salt!  All  light,  all  light,  all 
light!"  he  explained,  and  divided  generously  with 
the  boys,  giving  them  something  which  was  of 
great  value  to  them. 

For  a  time  attention  seemed  to  be  diverted 
from  the  purpose  of  these  strange  visitors,  the 
chief  making  no  reference  to  the  man  for  whom 
they  were  searching,  but  seeming  to  be  content 
to  sit  at  the  fire  and  eat.  What  might  have  been 
the  result  was  not  determined,  for  all  at  once 
something  happened  which  set  them  all  on  a  run 
for  the  beach. 

A  man  appeared  at  the  top  of  the  sea-wall  ex 
citedly  shouting,  waving  his  arms,  and  pointing 
toward  the  sea.  The  others  answered  with  loud 
cries,  and  in  a  moment  the  space  immediately 
about  the  barabbara  was  entirely  deserted. 
110 


XV 

THE   WHALE-HUNT 

FOR  a  moment  Rob,  John,  and  Jesse  stood 
looking  after  the  natives  as  they  hastened 
toward  the  beach.  Their  first  thought  was  one 
of  relief  for  the  present  at  least;  the  prisoner  in 
the  hut  remained  unmolested.  Then  their  curios 
ity  as  to  the  cause  of  all  the  excitement  led  them 
to  forget  everything  else. 

"Come  on!"  called  Rob;  and  in  an  instant 
they  were  hurrying  to  join  the  scene  of  con 
fusion  which  now  was  enacting  on  the  beach. 

As  they  reached  the  top  of  the  sea-wall  they 
saw  for  the  first  time  the  full  party  of  natives, 
not  more  than  half  of  whom  had  come  over  to 
the  camp.  More  than  thirty  bidarkas  lay  pulled 
up  along  the  beach,  most  of  them  two-hatch 
boats.  To  these  boats  the  natives  were  now 
hastening;  indeed,  some  of  them  had  already 
launched  their  bidarkas  and  were  paddling  back 
and  forth,  as  much  at  home  on  the  water  as  on 
in 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

the  land.  With  much  shouting  and  gesticulation, 
one  after  another  bidarka  joined  these,  the  hunter 
in  each  hurriedly  casting  off  the  lashings  of  his 
harpoon  which  lay  along  deck. 

At  first  the  boys  could  see  no  reason  for  all  this 
hurry,  but  as  they  gazed  out  across  the  bay  all 
at  once  there  arose  in  plain  sight  of  all  a  vast 
black  bulk  which  at  once  they  knew  to  be  a 
whale.  The  white  spray  of  its  spouting  was 
blown  forty  feet  into  the  air  as  it  moved  slowly 
and  majestically  onward  deeper  into  the  bay.  It 
was  plain  that  the  natives  meant  to  attack  this 
monster  in  their  fleet  of  bidarkas. 

The  old  Aleut  chief  saw  the  boys  as  they  came 
up.  He  motioned  hurriedly  to  Rob  as  he  ran  to 
his  own  bidarka,  grinning  as  though  he  hardly 
expected  Rob  to  accept  the  invitation  to  come 
and  join  the  hunt.  Not  so,  however;  for  Rob  was 
so  much  excited  that  he  did  not  stop  to  think  of 
danger.  As  the  chief  thrust  the  long,  narrow 
craft  into  the  water,  steadying  it  with  his  paddle, 
Rob  sprang  in  behind  the  rear  hatch.  In  an  in 
stant  they  were  off! 

Rob  looked  around  to  see  Jesse  and  John  both 

crowded  together  in  the  rear  hatch  of  yet  another 

bidarka,  where  they  did  what  they  could  to  help 

a  swarthy  boatman  to  propel  their  craft.    Rob 

112 


THE    WHALE-HUNT 

noticed  now  that  each  hunter  had  his  paddles, 
his  harpoon,  and  his  arrows  marked  in  a  certain 
way  with  red-and-black  paint,  so  that  they  could 
not  be  mistaken  for  the  property  of  any  one  else. 
All  the  hunters  made  ready  their  gear  for  the 
chase  as  they  paddled  on,  perfectly  assured  and 
apparently  not  in  the  least  anxious  about  the 
result  of  the  hunt. 

The  other  boats  held  back  until  the  chief  had 
taken  his  place  at  the  head  of  the  procession.  It 
now  became  plain  that  his  was  the  task  of  using 
the  mysterious  nogock,  over  whose  loss  he  had 
seemed  so  concerned.  Even  as  his  bidarka  shot 
forward  with  its  own  momentum,  he  drew  out 
from  the  forward  hatch  this  sacred  instrument 
and  fitted  to  it  the  short  harpoon.  He  made 
over  the  weapon  some  mysterious  passes  with 
one  hand,  and  as  he  fitted  the  harpoon  or  heavy 
dart  to  the  throwing-stick  he  blew  three  times 
on  the  point  of  it,  passing  his  fingers  along  the 
edge.  Finally  he  held  the  weapon  up  toward 
the  sky  and  uttered  some  loud  words  in  his 
strange  tongue.  Having  completed  these  cere 
monies,  he  placed  the  nogock  and  harpoon  cross 
wise  on  the  deck  in  front  of  him  and  bent 
again  to  his  paddle.  Rob  himself,  no  bad 
canoeman,  had  meantime  been  paddling  as 

113 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

though  he  quite  understood  what  was  expected 
of  him. 

The  head  bidarka  now  passed  steadily  and 
swiftly  on  toward  the  great  bulk  of  the  whale, 
which  lay  plainly  visible  not  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  away.  As  the  other  boats  came  on  in 
squadron  close  behind,  Rob  could  hear  a  sort  of 
low,  rhythmic  humming,  as  though  all  the  natives 
were  joining  in  an  incantation.  It  was  his  privi 
lege  to  see  one  of  the  native  hunts  for  the  whale 
in  all  its  original  features — something  which  few 
white  men  have  ever  seen.  The  strange  excite 
ment  of  the  scene,  so  many  savage  hunters  all 
bent  upon  one  purpose,  and  evidently  using  every 
means  to  screw  their  courage  to  the  sticking- 
point,  did  not  lack  its  effect  upon  the  young 
adventurers  who  found  themselves,  with  so  lit 
tle  preparation  or  intent,  swept  on  in  this  wild 
scene. 

Once  in  a  while  Rob  cast  his  eye  about  to  see 
how  his  friends  were  prospering.  Jesse  looked  a 
little  pale,  yet  both  he  and  John  were  eager. 
Crowded  as  they  were  both  in  one  hatch,  they 
could  not  paddle  to  much  effect,  but  the  native 
in  the  bow  managed  to  keep  his  place  in  the  pro 
cession.  The  first  thought  of  Rob  was  that  it 
was  absolute  folly  to  think  of  killing  so  great  a 

114 


THE    WHALE-HUNT 

creature  with  the  insignificant  weapons  which  he 
now  saw  ready  for  use. 

As  the  chief  began  to  approach  the  great  whale 
more  closely,  he  slowed  down  the  speed,  creeping 
cautiously  onward  at  times  when  his  instinct  told 
him  his  boat  was  least  apt  to  be  discovered  by  the 
whale.  The  latter  seemed  ignorant  or  careless 
of  the  approach.  Now  and  again  it  blew  a  vast 
spout  of  water  into  the  air,  and  sometimes  it 
rolled  and  half  lifted  its  vast  bulk  free  of  the 
water,  until  it  seemed  larger  than  a  house.  The 
humming  chorus  of  the  Aleuts  continued,  but  fell 
to  a  lower  note  as  the  boats  drew  near. 

For  what  seemed  an  interminable  time  the  bi- 
darka  of  the  headman  lay  silent,  trembling  and 
heaving  on  the  swell  of  the  choppy  sea,  while 
the  huntsman  sat  steadily  and  studied  the  giant 
quarry  in  front  of  him.  Once  or  twice  he  gently 
turned  the  prow  of  the  bidarka,  using  the  least 
possible  motion.  Again,  a  few  feet  at  a  time,  he 
would  edge  it  on  in,  pausing  and  crawling  for 
ward,  his  hand  motioning  back  to  Rob  to  be  quiet 
and  steady. 

Now  the  Aleut  showed  at  his  best.  There  was 
no  fear  or  agitation  in  his  conduct.  Without 
hesitation  he  gazed  intently  at  the  dark,  glisten 
ing  bulk  in  front  of  him,  apparently  hunting  for 
115 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

the  exact  spot  which  he  wished  to  strike — a  point 
about  a  third  of  the  way  back  from  the  angle  of 
the  jaw.  The  whale  itself  seemed  to  be  stupid, 
as  though  sleepy,  although  now  and  again  it 
rolled  slowly  from  side  to  side  as  though  uneasy. 

Like  a  cat  the  huntsman  crept  in  and  in  toward 
his  prey,  scarce  more  than  an  inch  at  a  time,  till 
at  last  Rob  saw  the  boat  reach  a  point  where  the 
body  of  the  whale  seemed  to  tower  above  their 
heads. 

Finally  the  hand  of  the  chief  was  raised  to 
signal  Rob  to  stop  paddling. 

With  his  own  paddle  in  his  left  hand  clinched 
against  the  rim  of  the  bidarka  hatch,  the  chief 
with  his  right  hand  slowly  and  deliberately  raised 
the  nogock  and  its  slate -tipped  harpoon.  His 
arm,  extended  at  full  length  and  quite  rigid, 
passed  now  in  a  straight  line  above  his  head  and 
slightly  back  of  his  shoulder.  Rob,  intent  on  all 
these  matters,  saw  the  native's  thumb  and  fingers 
whiten  in  the  intensity  of  their  grip  on  the  butt 
of  the  nogock;  yet  the  middle  finger  lay  light  and 
gentle,  just  holding  in  place  the  slender  shaft  of 
the  harpoon,  whose  slate  head,  blue  and  cold,  ex 
tended  down  and  in  front  of  the  throwing  hand. 

Still  the  chief  poised  and  waited  until  the  exact 
spot  he  wished  to  strike  was  exposed  as  the  whale 

116 


THE    WHALE-HUNT 

rolled  slowly  toward  the  right.  Then  suddenly, 
with  a  sighing  hiss  of  his  breath,  the  dark  hunts 
man  leaned  swiftly  forward.  The  motion  of  his 
hand  was  so  swift  the  eye  could  scarcely  follow  it. 

After  that  all  that  Rob  could  tell  was  that  he 
was  in  the  bidarka  speeding  swiftly  away  from 
a  churning  mass  of  white  water,  in  the  middle  of 
which  a  vast  black  form  was  rolling.  He  heard 
a  sort  of  hoarse  roar  or  expiration  of  the  breath 
of  the  stricken  monster.  Once  he  thought  he 
caught  sight  of  the  slender  shaft  of  the  harpoon, 
which  in  truth  was  buried,  head  and  all,  eighteen 
inches  or  more  deep  in  the  side  of  the  whale,  the 
point  passing  entirely  through  the  blubber  and 
into  the  red  meat  of  the  body.  Although  Rob 
did  not  know  it,  the  shaft  did  not  long  remain  at 
tached.  The  struggles  of  the  whale  broke  off  the 
slate-head  at  a  point  near  to  the  shaft,  where  it 
was  cunningly  made  thinner  in  order  that  it 
might  break.  A  foot  or  fifteen  inches  of  the 
slate-head  remained  buried  deep  in  the  body  of 
the  whale.  The  nogock  had  done  its  work ! 

A  loud  chant  now  broke  from  all  the  boatmen, 
who  joined  the  head  bidarka,  all  backing  away 
from  the  struggling  whale.  To  the  surprise  of 
Rob,  no  further  effort  was  made  to  launch  a  har 
poon,  and  he  saw  that  the  presence  of  these  other 
117 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

boats  was  rather  intended  as  a  part  of  the  cere 
mony  than  as  an  actual  assistance  in  the  hunt, 
the  savage  mind  here,  as  elsewhere,  taking  de 
light  in  surrounding  itself  with  certain  mum 
meries. 

As  Rob  gazed  back  of  him  to  watch  the  strug 
gle  of  the  whale,  he  saw  the  sea  gradually  becom 
ing  quiet.  The  giant  black  form  was  gone,  the 
whale  having  sounded,  or  dived  far  below  the 
surface. 

"  Plenty  sick  now,"  said  the  chief,  sententious- 
ly,  motioning  toward  the  spot  where  the  whale 
had  disappeared.  Then  all  at  once  he  gave  a 
loud  whoop  and  started  paddling  toward  the 
shore,  followed  by  the  entire  fleet  of  bidarkas, 
all  the  occupants  of  which  were  singing  joyously. 
Rob  could  not  in  the  least  understand  all  this, 
for  it  seemed  to  him  the  hunt  had  met  with  fail 
ure;  but  there  seemed  to  be  some  system  about 
it,  for  nothing  but  satisfaction  marked  the  faces 
of  the  hunters  as  they  finally  drew  up  their 
bidarkas  again  upon  the  beach. 

"  May  be  so  two — tree  day,  him  die  now/'  said 
the  chief,  at  last.  Rob  did  not  even  then  under 
stand  what  he  later  found  to  be  the  truth:  that 
what  the  Aleut  really  does  with  his  slate  harpoon- 
head  is  not  to  kill  the  whale  with  the  wound,  but 
118 


THE    WHALE-HUNT 

to  poison  it.  If  the  stone  harpoon-head  passes 
through  the  blubber  and  into  the  red  meat  the 
wound  is  sure  to  fester,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few 
days  to  kill  the  whale,  which  then  floats  ashore 
somewhere  and  is  discovered  by  the  waiting 
hunters. 

There  continued  some  sort  of  system  in  this 
hunt,  even  though  it  was  now  arrested  for  the 
time.  Men  kept  an  eye  out  on  the  bay,  where 
in  a  few  moments  the  whale  arose,  spouting  mad 
ly,  and  once  more  stirring  the  water  into  foam. 
Swimming  on  the  surface,  it  then  took  a  long, 
straight  run  apparently  for  the  mouth  of  the 
bay.  The  chief  gave  some  hurried  command, 
and  a  dozen  boats  shot  out,  whether  to  head  it 
or  to  watch  it  Rob  could  not  tell,  for  presently 
the  whale  once  more  sounded,  and  when  it  next 
arose  it  was  deeper  into  the  bay.  The  situation 
now  seemed  to  please  the  old  hunter. 

"Maybe  so  him  stay  here  now,"  he  said, 
briefly,  though  why  he  thought  so  Rob  could 
not  tell. 

No  one  made  any  attempt  to  pursue  the  whale 
after  that.  The  chief,  carefully  wiping  off  the 
sacred  nogock,  again  wrapped  it  up  in  its  cover 
ings,  made  some  mysterious  passes  over  it,  and 
restored  it  to  its  place  in  his  bidarka,  whence,  as 
9  119 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

Rob  now  began  to  understand,  the  guilty  Jimmy 
had  some  time  since  stolen  it. 

As  the  boys  met  on  the  beach  it  must  be  con 
fessed  they  were  not  thinking  of  their  prisoner 
or  his  fate.  In  their  excitement  they  were  chat 
tering  to  one  another  about  the  hunt,  which  they 
all  agreed  was  the  wildest  and  most  peculiar  one 
they  had  ever  seen  or  heard  of. 

"You  had  the  best  of  it  all,  Rob,"  said  John, 
enviously.  "Our  man  wouldn't  row  up  any 
closer.  My,  that  old  whale  must  have  looked 
big  from  where  you  were!" 

"Well,  he  did,  a  little  bit,"  admitted  Rob,  who 
had  lost  his  cap  somewhere  and  was  now  bare 
headed. 

"That  beats  bear-hunting/'  said  Jesse,  "even 
although  we  haven't  got  our  game  yet." 

"They  say  he'll  come  ashore  maybe  in  two  or 
three  days,"  said  Rob.  "Meanwhile,  I  suppose 
these  natives  will  hang  around  here  and  wait. 
If  they  do  get  him,  it's  very  likely  they'll  squat 
down  here  to  eat  him  up,  and  that  would  take 
all  summer!  I  must  confess  I  don't  like  the  look 
of  it  very  much." 

"And  there's  Jimmy— ''  began  John. 

"That's  so!    We  must  go  and  see  about  him." 

Quietly  they  edged  their  way  out  of  the  ex- 
120 


THE    WHALE-HUNT 

cited  throng  of  natives  and  hurried  across  the 
sea  -  wall  to  the  barabbara.  Opening  the  door 
they  peered  cautiously  in.  No  motion  met  their 
gaze,  and  although  they  called  several  times  in  a 
low  tone  there  was  no  response.  Passing  into  the 
barabbara  they  searched  every  corner  of  it.  No 
doubt  remained — their  late  prisoner  was  gone! 


XVI 

THE  MISSING  PRISONER 

FOR  a  time  the  boys  sat  silent  and  moody 
in  the  barabbara.  The  situation,  as  it  ap 
peared  to  them,  was  not  a  pleasant  one.  On  the 
one  side  were  half  a  hundred  natives,  whose  in 
tentions  they  could  only  guess;  upon  the  other, 
as  they  now  suspected,  there  might  be  an  active 
enemy  whose  whereabouts  they  could  only  sur 
mise.  At  last  Rob  spoke. 

"It  looks  this  way  to  me,"  said  he:  "we  three 
could  not  make  any  kind  of  defence  against  that 
band  of  natives,  but  perhaps  they  will  not  attack 
us.  From  what  has  happened,  I  do  not  think 
they  will.  Now,  here  is  tea  and  salt  which  we 
got  from  them.  That  proves  that  they  trade 
with  the  whites,  which  means  that  help  may  not 
be  more  than  a  hundred  miles  away  at  farthest. 
In  the  second  place,  these  people  think  that  we 
are  here  alone  for  only  a  short  time  and  that  our 
friends  will  soon  be  here.  The  thing  for  us  to  do 
is  to  keep  them  thinking  that." 

122 


THE    MISSING    PRISONER 

"They'll  be  over  before  long/'  said  John,  "to 
see  what  has  become  of  Jimmy,  here,  the  man 
they  were  after." 

"I'm  not  so  sure  of  that,"  rejoined  Rob. 
"These  natives  forget  any  purpose  very  easily; 
and  now,  as  we  know,  they  are  busy  watching  the 
whale.  But  suppose  they  do  come.  The  barab- 
bara  is  empty." 

"They  have  not  seen  Jimmy  at  all  as  yet," 
said  John.  "But  suppose  the  bidarka  is  gone- 
he  very  probably  took  that  with  him." 

"Let's  go  see,"  suggested  Jesse,  and  according 
ly  they  hurried  to  the  side  of  the  lagoon.  Sure 
enough,  only  the  dory  remained.  The  bidarka 
had  disappeared  from  its  resting-place. 

"Now,"  reasoned  Rob,  "he  would  be  afraid  to 
go  out  of  the  creek  into  the  open  bay,  for  then 
they  would  see  him  sure.  There  is  every  chance 
that  he  left  the  bidarka  somewhere  in  the  creek. 
We'll  hunt  for  it,  then.  I'll  go  across  in  the 
shallow  water,  and  we'll  search  both  sides  of  the 
bank.  One  thing  sure  is  that  Jimmy  went  in  a 
hurry,  because  he  left  his  gun  behind.  He  can't 
have  had  anything  along  more  than  his  bow  and 
arrows.  We'll  know  when  we  find  the  bidarka." 

So  saying,  they  separated,  and  began  to  scour 
both  sides  of  the  creek,  without  success,  however, 

123 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

until  they  nearly  reached  the  mouth.  Here,  hid 
den  in  the  tall  grass  on  the  farther  side  of  the 
creek  and  close  to  the  high  rock  wall  near  the 
mouth  of  the  stream,  Rob  stumbled  across  the 
missing  boat.  With  a  shout  he  called  to  the 
others  to  halt,  and  presently,  pushing  the  bidarka 
out  into  the  creek,  he  paddled  across  to  them. 
They  all  joined  now  in  examining  the  contents 
of  the  boat. 

"It's  just  as  I  said,"  commented  Rob.  "He 
left  in  a  hurry,  and  badly  scared.  He  could  just 
as  well  have  taken  one  of  our  guns  as  not,  but  we 
know  he  did  not  do  that,  and  even  left  his  own. 
Here's  his  spear  and  his  paddles.  His  blankets 
are  back  at  the  hut.  So  far  as  I  can  see,  he  took 
only  his  fishing-line  and  his  bow  and  arrows." 

"Yes,  but  he  may  come  back  again,"  suggested 
Jesse. 

"I  hardly  think  so,"  reasoned  Rob.  "At  any 
rate,  he'll  not  come  back  so  long  as  these  people 
hang  around,  because  he  knows  they're  after 
him.  Besides,  the  fact  that  he  didn't  steal  any 
thing  from  us  shows  that  he  is  getting  scared 
about  stealing.  I'm  not  so  uneasy  about  him  as 
I  am  about  these  other  fellows  over  on  the  beach." 

None  too  happy,  the  boys  now  proceeded  to 
paddle  the  bidarka  up  the  creek  to  its  old  resting- 

124 


THE    MISSING    PRISONER 

place  in  the  lagoon,  after  which  they  busied  them 
selves  rather  half-heartedly  about  camp  work,  a 
part  of  which  was  further  fleshing  of  the  bear 
hides.  As  they  were  engaged  at  this  they  heard 
a  faint  rustling  in  the  dry  grass  near  at  hand. 
Startled,  they  looked  around,  and  saw  something 
staring  at  them  from  the  cover.  John  reached 
for  his  rifle. 

" Don't  shoot!"  called  Rob.     "It's  a  boy!    I 
see  his  face  plainly  now." 


XVII 

THE  ALEUT  BOY 

THEY  advanced  toward  the  intruder,  who 
stood  up,  grinning  and  showing  a  set  of  very 
white  teeth.  He  was  an  Aleut  boy  about  twelve 
years  of  age,  short  and  squat,  with  stringy,  dark 
hair.  He  was  clad  in  a  smock,  or  jacket,  of  sea- 
parrot  feathers,  which  came  down  to  his  seal-skin 
boots.  In  one  hand  he  held  a  short  spear,  in  the 
other  several  thongs  to  which  were  attached  bits 
of  ivory.  He  seemed  not  in  the  least  alarmed, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  much  disposed  to  be  friendly. 

"Karosha!"  called  out  John  to  him.  "All 
right,  all  right,  all  right!" 

John  seemed  to  pick  up  easily  the  expressions 
which  the  Aleuts  used  and  understood. 

Hesitatingly,  but  still  smiling,  the  boy  joined 
them,  and  walked  with  them  over  toward  the  bear 
hides,  where  he  stood  looking  down.  At  last,  as 
they  resumed  their  work  at  the  hides,  he  himself 
squatted  down,  and  taking  out  his  own  knife — 
126 


THE    ALEUT    BOY 

a  mere  bit  of  steel  bound  around  at  the  end  with 
rags  and  hide  for  a  handle  —  he  also  began  to 
scrape  away.  So  much  greater  was  his  skill  than 
theirs  that  at  last  he  smiled  at  their  awkward 
ness.  For  the  time  he  made  no  attempt  at  any 
kind  of  speech,  and  answered  no  questions  in  re 
gard  to  his  people.  At  last,  as  Jesse  departed  to 
the  top  of  the  sea-wall  to  learn  what  was  going  on 
along  the  beach,  he  began  to  jabber  and  attempt 
to  make  some  signs.  John  guessed  that  he  meant 
to  say  that  in  a  couple  of  days  the  whale  would 
come  ashore;  that  then  his  people  would  build 
fires  and  eat. 

"  Maybe  he'd  like  to  eat  a  little  himself,"  con 
cluded  John.  "  Suppose  we  try  him  on  some  bear 
meat." 

Their  offer  seemed  very  acceptable  to  the  Aleut 
boy,  who  in  a  very  matter-of-fact  way  began  to 
hunt  around  in  the  grass  for  fuel  and  to  prepare 
to  make  a  fire,  which  latter  he  did  with  skilful  use 
of  one  of  the  few  matches  which  he  kept  dry  in 
a  membrane  pouch  in  an  inner  pocket. 

"He's  camped  out  before,"  said  Rob.  "It 
looks  as  though  he  had  adopted  us.  Maybe  he 
likes  the  look  of  our  meat-rack  better  than  he  does 
the  prospect  of  waiting  over  there  for  the  whale 
to  come  ashore." 

127 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

The  young  Aleut  put  his  pieces  of  bear  meat 
on  sticks,  which  he  stuck  up  near  the  fire;  and 
while  they  were  broiling  he  himself  ran  over 
toward  the  beach,  presently  reappearing  with 
some  dark-looking  stuff  in  his  hands,  which  he 
offered  his  friends,  making  signs  that  it  was  good 
to  eat. 

" Smoked  breast  of  wild  goose,"  commented 
John,  smacking  his  lips.  "It's  good,  too.  I 
wouldn't  mind  having  some  more  of  that." 

Whether  or  not  the  boy  understood  it  was  im 
possible  to  say;  but  all  at  once  he  began  to  flop 
his  arms  up  and  down,  quacking  and  honking  in 
imitation  of  wild  fowl.  He  pointed  to  a  spot  far 
up  at  the  head  of  the  lagoon,  and  then,  picking 
up  his  bunch  of  thongs  and  ivory  balls,  whirled 
them  around  his  head. 

Rob's  eyes  kindled. 

"We  can't  afford  to  use  rifle  ammunition  to 
shoot  birds,  but  if  we  can  get  this  boy  to  go  along 
on  a  goose-hunt  we  may  have  a  new  sort  of  fun, 
and  maybe  get  some  game." 

The  young  Aleut  showed  no  disposition  to  re 
turn  to  his  own  people,  and  when  at  length,  after 
they  had  all  eaten  heartily,  the  three  friends 
turned  toward  the  door  of  the  barabbara,  he  fol 
lowed  them  as  though  he  had  been  invited. 
128 


THE    ALEUT    BOY 

"What  are  we  going  to  do  with  this  boy?" 
asked  Jesse.  "He  acts  as  if  he  belonged  here." 

"Maybe  he  does/'  said  John.  "I  saw  him 
talking  to  the  old  chief,  and  maybe  he's  his  son. 
I  have  more  than  half  a  guess  that  the  old  man 
does  own  this  house,  anyhow." 

As  the  sun  began  to  sink  toward  the  horizon 
a  wind  arose  and  dark  clouds  overspread  the  sky. 

"I  don't  blame  the  boy  for  wanting  to  stay 
here  where  he  will  be  dry.  If  I'm  not  mistaken, 
we  are  going  to  have  rain  and  plenty  of  it.  Mean 
time,  we  might  as  well  turn  in  and  go  to  sleep/' 
added  Rob. 

He  motioned  the  young  Aleut  to  the  blankets 
which  Jimmy  had  abandoned,  and  the  latter,  with 
out  ado,  curled  himself  up  on  them.  The  others, 
tired  enough,  followed  his  example,  and  for  that 
night  at  least  they  did  not  trouble  themselves  to 
keep  any  watch.  Perhaps  they  had  never  had 
greater  cause  for  vigilance,  but  their  anxiety  was 
lost  in  the  bodily  weariness  which  came  over 
them  after  so  many  stirring  incidents. 


XVIII 

UNWELCOME   VISITORS 

AFTER  the  edge  of  their  weariness  had  worn 
JTjL  off  with  their  first  heavy  slumbers,  the  men 
tal  anxiety  of  the  young  adventurers  began  to 
return,  and  they  slept  so  uneasily  that  when 
morning  came  they  all  awoke  with  a  start  at  the 
sounds  they  heard  outside  the  barabbara. 

Rain  and  heavy  wind  had  begun  some  time  in 
the  night;  but  now  they  heard  something  else— 
the  swishing  of  feet  in  the  wet  grass  and  the  sound 
of  low  voices. 

The  young  Aleut  was  awake  also,  but  he 
smiled  as  he  sat  up  on  the  blankets. 

"I  don't  think  we  need  be  alarmed,"  said  Rob, 
in  a  low  tone  to  his  friends.  "If  these  people 
had  meant  us  any  harm  we'd  have  been  foolish 
to  go  out  in  their  boats  with  them  and  leave  our 
guns.  Now  we're  here  safe  with  all  our  guns  and 
other  stuff,  and  here's  this  boy  with  us,  too.  If 
they  had  not  felt  friendly  toward  us  they  would 

130 


UNWELCOME    VISITORS 

never  have  let  him  stay  here  all  night.  Too  bad 
we  can't  understand  their  talk,  and  just  have  to 
guess  at  things;  but  that's  the  way  I  guess  it." 

A  moment  later  there  came  the  sound  of  a  loud 
voice  at  the  door.  It  opened,  and  the  swarthy 
face  of  the  Aleut  chief  peered  in.  He  jabbered 
in  his  native  language  to  the  boy,  who  replied 
briefly  and  composedly.  The  chief  now  pushed 
his  way  into  the  hut,  and,  much  to  the  annoy 
ance  of  the  white  occupants,  he  was  followed  by 
a  dozen  other  natives,  who  came  crowding  in 
and  filling  the  place  with  the  rank  smell  of  wet 
fur  and  feathers.  They  seated  themselves  around 
the  edge  of  the  barabbara,  and  one  of  them  pres 
ently  began  to  make  a  fire. 

"Dis  barabbara — my  peoples!"  said  the  chief. 
"  My  families  come  here  all  light,  all  light,  all  light !" 

"Just  as  I  thought,"  said  Rob,  aside,  to  the 
others.  "It  is  we  who  are  the  visitors,  not  they. 
John,  you  act  as  interpreter.  Ask  him  how  far 
it  is  to  Kadiak." 

The  keen-witted  chief  caught  the  sound  of  the 
latter  word. 

"You  come  Kadiak?"  he  said.  "Come  dory? 
You  no  got-um  schooner?" 

"Schooner  by-and-by,"  broke  in  Rob,  hurried 
ly.  "Our  peoples  come." 

131 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

The  chief  sat  thoughtful  for  a  time,  his  cunning 
eyes  looking  from  one  to  the  other. 

"What  you  give  go  Kadiak?"  he  asked,  at 
length. 

"  Schooner  come  by -and -by,"  retorted  Rob, 
coldly. 

The  chief  chuckled  to  himself  shrewdly. 

"Where  bad  mans  go?"  he  asked,  after  awhile. 

Rob  shrugged  his  shoulder  and  pointed  toward 
the  mountains,  as  though  he  did  not  know  where 
the  refugee  might  be. 

After  awhile  the  old  native  produced  from  un 
der  his  coat  three  handsomely  made  kamelinkas, 
or  rain -proof  coats,  made  of  membranes.  He 
pointed  to  the  clothing  of  the  boys  and  made 
signs  of  rain. 

"You  like-um?"  he  asked.     "Me  like-um  lifle." 

Rob  shook  his  head,  but  the  old  man  persisted. 
Finally  Rob  was  seized  of  a  happy  idea. 

"S'pose  you  go  Kadiak,"  he  said.  "You  come 
back  with  schooner,  maybe  so  we  give  one  rifle, 
two  rifle." 

This  had  precisely  the  opposite  effect  from  that 
intended.  The  chief  guessed  that,  after  all,  the 
boys  did  not  know  when  any  boat  would  come  for 
them.  The  cunning  eyes  of  the  native  grew  ugly 
now. 

132 


UNWELCOME    VISITORS 

"M y  barabbara!"  he  said.  "You  go.  S'pose 
you  no  give  lifle!  Me  take-um  all  light,  all  light, 
all  light!" 

"Hold  on  to  your  guns,  boys!"  called  Rob, 
quickly.  '''Don't  let  them  get  hold  of  one  of 
them." 

Then  he  resumed  with  the  chief.  "  Heap  shoot !" 
said  he,  patting  his  rifle.  "You  no  take-um. 
S'pose  you  get-um  schooner,  maybe  so  we  give 
one  rifle,  two  rifle;  maybe  so  flour — sugar;  may 
be  so  hundred  dollar.  Our  peoples  plenty  rich." 

The  chief  seemed  sulky  and  not  disposed  to 
argue,  but  the  young  boy  at  his  side  spoke  to  him 
rapidly  for  a  time,  and  for  some  reason  he  seemed 
mollified.  Rob  pressed  the  advantage.  Draw 
ing  a  piece  of  worn  paper  from  his  inner  coat- 
pocket,  he  made  signs  of  writing  with  a  stub  of 
pencil  which  he  found  in  another  pocket. 

"You  see  talk -talk  paper?"  he  went  on.  "S'pose 
you  take  talk-talk  paper  by  Kadiak,  we  give-um 
one  rifle." 

The  chief  grinned  broadly  and  reached  out  his 
hand  to  take  Rob's  rifle  from  him,  but  the  latter 
drew  it  back. 

"No  give-um  rifle  now,"  he  insisted.  "When 
bidarka  go,  you  take-um  talk-talk  paper,  we 
give-um  rifle.  No!  No  give-um  rifle  now.  We 

133 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

keep-um  boy  here  all  right,  all  right,  all  right. 
No  keep-um  boy,  no  give-um  rifle.  No  get-um 
schooner,  no  get-um  boy." 

This  was  not  very  good  talking,  but  it  was  not 
bad  reasoning  for  a  boy;  and,  moreover,  it  seemed 
to  go  home.  The  old  Aleut  sat  and  thought  for 
a  while.  Evidently  he  either  was  willing  to  ex 
change  his  son  for  so  good  a  rifle,  or  else  he  felt 
sure  that  no  harm  would  come  to  the  boy.  Turn 
ing  to  the  latter,  he  talked  with  him  for  some 
moments  earnestly,  the  boy  answering  without 
hesitation.  At  last  the  young  Aleut  arose,  edged 
through  the  crowd,  and  sat  down  beside  John, 
putting  his  hand  on  the  arm  of  the  latter  as 
though  to  call  him  his  friend. 

Rob  drew  a  sigh  of  relief.  Although  he  no 
more  than  half  understood  what  had  gone  on,  he 
reasoned  that  the  boy  had  agreed  to  remain  with 
them  until  word  was  brought  back  from  the  set 
tlement.  How  long  that  might  be,  or  hi  what 
form  help  might  come,  he  could  only  guess.  Keep 
ing  his  own  counsel,  and  preserving  as  stern  an 
expression  as  he  could,  Rob  sat  and  looked  at  the 
Aleut  chieftain  steadily. 

The  situation  was  suddenly  changed  by  a  shout 
from  the  direction  of  the  beach.  Led  by  the 
chief,  the  natives  all  now  hurried  out  of  the  barab- 

134 


UNWELCOME    VISITORS 

bara.  The  young  boy  remained.  In  a  few  mo 
ments  he  crawled  out  and  presently  dragged  in 
after  him  the  wet  bear-skins,  making  signs  that 
they  would  be  spoiled  if  left  in  the  rain.  Having 
done  this,  he  motioned  to  the  boys  to  put  on  the 
kamelinkas  which  had  been  left  in  the  hut  by  the 
chief  and  then  to  follow  him. 

Guessing  that  there  might  be  events  of  interest 
on  the  beach,  they  adopted  his  suggestions  and 
hastened  out  into  the  rain. 

When  they  reached  the  top  of  the  sea-wall  the 
cause  of  the  excitement  was  apparent.  The  na 
tives  were  hurrying  as  fast  as  they  could  go  in  a 
body  up  the  beach.  Perhaps  a  half-mile  from 
where  they  stood  they  could  see  a  vast  dark 
shape  half  awash  in  the  heavy  surf.  Around  it 
bobbed  a  few  dark  spots  which  they  saw  to  be 
bidarkas.  From  these,  and  from  the  natives 
gathered  at  the  edge  of  the  water,  there  came,  as 
the  boys  could  see,  one  harpoon  after  another.  It 
was  plain  that  the  whale,  sickened  by  its  wound 
and  buffeted  by  the  heavy  weather,  had  been 
driven  close  in  shore,  and  here  had  been  attacked 
and  finished  at  short  range  by  the  natives  who 
had  been  watching  for  its  appearance. 


XIX 

HOPE   DEFERRED 

OF  course  the  boys  could  not  help  joining  the 
hurrying  throng  which  now  was  thickening 
about  the  stranded  whale.  John  and  Jesse  were 
much  excited,  but  Rob  remained  more  sober  and 
thoughtful,  even  as  they  finally  stood  on  the 
beach  where  the  Aleuts  were  working  at  the  giant 
carcass  of  the  whale,  which,  pieiced  by  a  half- 
dozen  lances  and  bristling  with  short  harpoons, 
was  now  quite  dead,  and  fastened  to  the  shore  by 
a  score  of  strong  hide  lines. 

" There's  the  whale  all  right,"  said  he  to  his 
two  friends.  "It's  a  good  thing  for  these  people, 
I  suppose;  but  it's  a  very  bad  thing  for  us." 

Jesse  looked  at  him  in  inquiry,  and  Rob  went 
on: 

11  Don't  you  see  that  they'll  camp  here  now 
for  days,  and  maybe  weeks?  They'll  eat  this 
thing  as  long  as  it  is  fit  to  eat,  and  probably  a 
good  deal  longer;  and  meantime  they  are  not  go- 

136 


HOPE    DEFERRED 

ing  to  take  out  any  word  from  us  to  the  settle 
ments,  if  they  really  intend  to  go  there  at  all." 
'That's  so,"  said  John.  But  his  hopeful  tem 
perament  cast  off  troubles  readily.  "We  can't 
do  anything  more  than  just  wait,  anyhow;  and 
I  suppose  that  our  friend  here" — he  motioned 
to  the  Aleut  boy — "will  see  that  we  get  our  share 
of  the  whale  meat." 

The  boys  now  saw  that  whale-hunting  among 
the  Aleuts  is  a  partnership  affair,  a  whole  village 
sharing  equally  in  the  spoils.  Every  man  of  the 
party  now  went  to  work.  Some  of  them  mounted 
the  slippery  back  of  the  dead  whale  and  hacked 
away  at  the  hide,  laying  bare  strips  of  the  thick 
white  blubber.  Skilfully  enough,  for  those  pos 
sessing  no  better  tools,  they  got  off  long  strips 
of  the  blubber,  which  they  carried  high  up  the 
beach  above  the  tide.  Some  of  them  carefully 
worked  at  the  side  of  the  whale  where  the  deadly 
harpoon  had  done  its  work.  Cutting  down,  they 
disclosed  the  broken  head  of  slate  buried  deep  in 
the  body  of  the  whale,  the  wound  now  surrounded 
by  a  wide  region  of  inflamed  and  bloodshot  flesh. 
This  they  carefully  cut  out  for  a  distance  of  two 
or  three  feet  on  each  side  of  the  wound,  and  this 
seemed  to  be  all  the  attention  they  paid  to  the 
preparation  of  the  flesh  for  food.  As  the  rain 
137 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

was  now  falling  steadily  they  did  not  pause  to 
build  fires,  but  here  and  there  a  man  could  be 
seen  eating  raw  whale  meat,  cutting  off  the  strip 
close  to  his  lips  with  his  knife,  in  the  curious 
fashion  which  always  seems  to  the  white  race 
so  repulsive. 

The  young  Aleut  looked  among  the  pieces  of 
flesh  as  they  were  carried  high  up  the  bank  of 
sea-wall,  and  at  last  selected  a  few  smaller  por 
tions  which  he  carried  with  him  when  at  last  the 
boys  turned  back  toward  the  barabbara.  He 
also  got  a  good-sized  sack  of  salt  and  one  or  two 
battered  cooking  utensils.  It  was  plain  that 
whatever  his  relatives  might  wish  to  do,  or  what 
ever  right  they  had  to  turn  intruders  out  of  their 
own  barabbara,  he  himself  intended  to  cast  in  his 
lot  with  the  white  boys. 

The  latter  knew  no  alternative  but  to  allow  mat 
ters  to  stand  as  they  did.  The  gloomy  weather, 
however,  oppressed  their  spirits.  They  had  now 
been  ^one  from  civilization  for  a  considerable 
time,  and  if  truth  be  told  they  were  becoming  not 
a  little  uneasy  about  their  situation.  They  had 
no  means  of  telling  how  far  the  settlement  might 
be,  and  they  were  indeed  as  completely  lost  as 
though  they  were  a  thousand  miles  from  any 
white  man's  home.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  part 
138 


HOPE    DEFERRED 

of  the  great  island  where  they  now  were  cast 
away  had  scarcely  been  visited  by  a  white  man, 
on  an  average,  once  in  twenty  years  since  the 
days  of  the  Russian  occupancy. 

Most  of  that  day  they  spent  inside  the  barab- 
bara  waiting  for  the  rain  to  cease;  but  as  the 
clouds  broke  away  in  the  afternoon  they  vent 
ured  out  once  more  to  see  what  was  going  on 
along  the  beach. 

"Why,  look  there!"  said  Rob,  pointing  toward 
the  mouth  of  the  bay.  "  They're  leaving — half 
of  them  are  gone  already!" 

Rough  as  the  sea  now  was,  and  heavily  loaded 
as  were  all  the  boats  with  the  flesh  of  the  whale, 
it  was  none  the  less  obvious  that  members  of  the 
party  were  starting  out  for  home,  perhaps  dis 
posed  to  this  by  the  discomfort  of  life  in  rough 
weather  with  no  better  shelter  than  they  could 
find  on  this  somewhat  barren  coast.  These 
natives  nearly  always  hunt  in  districts  where 
they  know  there  can  be  found  a  barabbara  or 
so,  and  such  huts  are  used  as  common  property 
by  all  who  find  them,  although  the  loose  title  of 
ownership  probably  rests  in  the  man  or  family 
who  first  erected  them.  When  so  large  a  party 
as  that  now  present  travelled  together,  it  was 
certain  that  they  could  find  no  adequate  shelter 
139 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

unless  they  constructed  it  for  themselves;  and 
the  Aleut,  after  all,  is  not  like  the  American  Ind 
ian,  who  makes  himself  comfortable  where  night 
finds  him,  but  is  rather  a  village-dweller,  who 
rarely  wanders  farther  from  home  than  a  day's 
journey  or  so  in  his  bidarka. 

All  this,  of  course,  was  more  or  less  Greek  to 
the  boys  who  stood  watching  the  thinning  party, 
as  one  bidarka  after  another  was  skilfully  run 
out  through  the  surf  and  as  skilfully  put  under 
way  in  the  long  swell  of  the  sea.  At  last  a  well- 
known  figure  detached  itself  from  a  group  where 
he  had  been  talking  and  approached  them.  The 
Aleut  chief  addressed  himself  once  more  to  Rob. 

"My  peoples  go  now,"  he  said.  "Me  like-urn 
lifle." 

"When  you  go  Kadiak?"  asked  Rob. 

"Maybe  seven  week,  four  week,  ten — nine 
week  all  light,  all  light,  all  light,"  said  the  chief, 
amiably.  "You  make-um  talk-talk  ting.  Give 
me!  You  give-um  lifle  now." 

Rob  turned  to  the  other  boys. 

"We'll  hold  a  council,"  said  he.  "Now,  what 
do  you  think  is  best  to  do?" 

The  others  remained  silent  for  a  time. 

"Well,"  said  Jesse,  at  length,  "I  want  to  go 
home  pretty  bad.  He  can  have  my  rifle  if  he 

140 


HOPE    DEFERRED 

wants  it,  if  he'll  take  a  letter  out  to  John's  Uncle 
Dick  at  Kadiak." 

"I  think  it's  best,"  said  John.  "We'll  have 
two  rifles  left,  and  that  will  be  all  we  really  need. 
Let's  go  and  write  the  note  and  take  the  chance 
of  its  ever  getting  out.  Anyway,  it  is  the  best 
we  can  do." 

They  returned  to  the  barabbara,  where  Rob 
wrote  as  plainly  as  he  could,  with  deep  marks  of 
the  pencil,  as  follows: 

"  Mr.  Richard  Hazlett,  Kadiak. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — We  are  all  right,  but  don't  know  where 
we  are,  or  what  date  this  is,  or  which  way  Kadiak  is. 
We  came  down  in  the  dory.  Travelled  all  night.  Are 
safe  and  have  plenty  to  eat,  but  want  to  go  home. 
Please  send  for  us,  and  oblige 

"  Yours  truly,  ." 

"Do  you  think  that  '11  do  all  right,  boys?"  he 
asked. 

The  others  nodded  assent,  and  so  each  signed 
his  name.  Folding  up  the  paper  and  tying  it  in 
a  piece  of  the  membrane  which  he  cut  off  a  corner 
of  his  kamelinka,  Rob  finally  gave  the  packet  to 
the  old  chief. 

"  Plenty  talk-talk  thing,"  he  said.  "  You  bring 
peoples — get-um  schooner — my  peoples  give-um 
flour,  sugar,  two  rifle,  hundred  dollars." 

141 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

Without  further  comment  than  a  grunt  the  old 
chief  stowed  the  packet  in  an  inside  pocket  of 
his  feather  jacket,  and  swung  Jesse's  rifle  under 
his  arm,  not  neglecting  the  ammunition.  He  had 
eaten  heavily  of  whale  meat  and  seemed  to  be 
pretty  well  beyond  emotion  of  any  sort.  Cer 
tainly  he  turned  and  did  not  even  say  good-bye 
to  his  son  as  he  swung  into  the  front  hatch  of  his 
bidarka,  followed  by  another  paddler,  and  headed 
toward  the  mouth  of  the  bay,  almost  the  last  of 
the  little  craft  to  leave  the  coast. 

The  boys  stood  looking  after  him  carefully. 
The  presence  of  these  natives  had,  it  is  true, 
offered  a  certain  danger,  or  at  least  a  certain 
problem,  but  now  that  they  were  gone  the  place 
seemed  strangely  lonesome,  after  all.  Rob  heard 
a  little  sound  and  turned. 

Jesse  was  not  exactly  crying,  but  was  strug 
gling  with  himself. 

"  Well,"  he  admitted,  "  I  don't  care !  I  do  want 
to  go  home!" 


XX 

THE   SILVER-GRAY  FOX 

A  FTER  the  natives  had  departed,  the  young 
J\.  castaways,  quite  alone  on  their  wild  island, 
felt  more  lonesome  and  more  uneasy  than  they 
had  been  before.  The  wilderness  seemed  to  close 
in  about  them.  None  of  them  had  any  definite 
hope  or  plan  for  an  early  rescue  or  departure  from 
the  island,  so  for  some  two  or  three  weeks  they 
passed  the  time  in  a  restless  and  discontented 
way,  doing  little  to  rival  the  exciting  events  which 
had  taken  place  during  the  visit  of  the  natives. 
It  was  now  approaching  the  end  of  spring,  and 
Rob,  more  thoughtful  perhaps  than  any  of  the 
others,  could  not  conceal  from  himself  the  anx 
iety  which  began  to  settle  upon  him. 

In  these  circumstances  Rob  and  his  friends 
found  the  young  Aleut,  with  his  cheerful  and  care 
free  disposition  and  his  apparent  unconcern  about 
the  future,  of  much  comfort  as  well  as  of  great  as 
sistance  in  a  practical  way.  They  nicknamed  the 

143 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

Aleut  boy  Skookie — a  shortening  of  the  Chinook 
word  skookum,  which  means  strong,  or  good,  or 
all  right.  Their  young  companion,  used  as  he  was 
to  life  in  the  open,  solved  simply  and  easily  all 
their  little  problems  of  camp-keeping.  Under  his 
guidance,  they  finished  the  work  on  the  bear-skins, 
scraping  them  and  rubbing  them  day  after  day, 
until  at  last  they  turned  them  into  valuable  rugs. 

It  was  Skookie,  also,  who  showed  them  where 
to  get  their  salmon  and  codfish  most  easily.  In 
short,  he  naturally  dropped  into  the  place  of  local 
guide.  The  native  is  from  his  youth  trained  to 
observation  of  natural  objects,  because  his  life 
depends  upon  such  things.  With  the  white  man 
or  white  boy  this  is  not  the  case.  No  matter 
how  much  instinct  he  may  have  for  the  life  of 
the  wilderness,  with  him  adjustment  to  that  life 
is  a  matter  of  study  and  effort,  whereas  with  the 
native  all  these  things  are  a  matter  of  course. 
It  may  be  supposed,  therefore,  that  this  young 
Aleut  made  the  best  of  instructors  for  the  young 
companions  who  found  themselves  castaway  in 
this  remote  region. 

Thus,  none  of  the  three  white  boys  had  noted 
more  than  carelessly  the  paths  of  wild  animals 
which  came  down  from  the  surrounding  hills  to 
the  shores  of  the  lagoon  near  which  they  were 

144 


THE    SILVER-GRAY    FOX 

camped,  although  these  paths  could  be  seen 
with  ease  by  any  one  whose  attention  was  at 
tracted  to  them.  One  day  they  were  wandering 
along  the  upper  end  of  the  lagoon  where  the 
grass,  matted  with  several  seasons'  growth  and 
standing  as  tall  as  their  shoulders,  stood  especially 
dense.  They  noticed  that  Skookie  stooped  now 
and  then  and  parted  the  tangled  grass  with  his 
hands.  At  last,  like  a  young  hound,  he  left  their 
course  and  began  to  circle  around,  crossing  farther 
on  what  they  now  discovered  to  be  an  easily  dis 
tinguishable  trail  made  by  some  sort  of  small 
animal. 

"What  is  it?  What's  up,  Skookie ?"  asked 
John,  whose  curiosity  always  was  in  evidence. 

The  Aleut  boy  did  not  at  first  reply,  because 
he  did  not  know  how  to  do  so.  He  made  a  sort 
of  sign,  by  putting  his  two  bent  fingers,  pricked 
up,  along  the  side  of  his  head  like  ears. 

"Wolf!"  said  John. 

"No,"  commented  Rob.  "I  don't  think  there 
are  any  wolves  on  this  island;  at  least,  I  never 
heard  of  any  so  far  to  the  West.  What  is  it, 
Skookie?" 

The  boy  made  the  same  sign,  and  then  spread 
his  hands  apart  as  if  to  measure  the  length  of 
some  animal. 

145 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"Fox!"  cried  Jesse,  with  conviction;  and 
Skookie,  who  understood  English  better  than  he 
spoke  it,  laughed  in  assent. 

"Fokus,"  he  said,  repeating  the  word  as  nearly 
as  he  could.  Now  he  traced  out  the  path  in  the 
grass  for  them,  and,  beckoning  them  to  follow, 
showed  where  it  crossed  the  tundra  and  ran  along 
the  stream,  headed  back  to  the  higher  hills  which 
seemed  to  be  the  resort  of  the  wild  animals,  from 
which  they  came  down  to  feed  along  the  beach. 

"It's  as  plain  as  the  nose  on  a  fellow's  face," 
said  John.  "And  some  of  these  paths  look  as 
if  they  were  a  good  many  years  old." 

Indeed,  they  could  trace  them  out,  many  of 
them,  worn  deep  into  the  moss  by  the  dainty  feet 
of  foxes  which  had  travelled  the  same  lines  for 
many  years.  It  was  a  curious  thing,  but  all  these 
wild  animals,  even  the  bears,  seemed  not  to  like 
the  work  of  walking  where  the  footing  was  soft, 
so  they  made  paths  of  their  own  which  they  fol 
lowed  from  one  part  of  the  country  to  another. 
On  this  great  Alaskan  island  nearly  every  moun 
tain  pass  had  bear  trails  and  fox  paths  leading 
down  to  the  valleys  along  the  streams  or  from 
one  valley  over  into  another.  The  foxes  as  well 
as  the  bears  seemed  to  find  a  great  deal  of  their 
food  along  the  beaches. 

146 


THE    SILVER-GRAY    FOX 

As  the  young  native  ran  along  the  fox  trail  the 
others  had  difficulty  in  keeping  up  with  him. 

"What's  the  matter  with  him?  What's  up, 
Rob?"  panted  John,  who  was  a  trifle  fat  for 
his  years.  "Why  doesn't  he  keep  in  the  plain 
trails?" 

"Let  him  alone,"  said  Rob.  "He  may  have 
some  idea  of  his  own.  See  there,  he  is  heading 
over  toward  the  beach." 

They  followed  him  along  the  faint  trail,  dimly 
outlined  at  places  in  the  moss,  and  soon  they 
caught  the  idea  which  was  in  his  mind.  The 
path  headed  toward  the  beach  and  then  zig 
zagged,  paralleling  it  as  though  some  fox  had 
come  down  and  caught  sight  or  scent  of  some 
thing  interesting  and  then  had  investigated  it 
cautiously.  Others  had  trodden  in  his  foot-prints, 
and  so  made  this  path,  which  at  length  straight 
ened  out  and  ran  directly  to  the  beach  just  oppo 
site  the  place  where  the  dead  whale  lay. 

"Plenty — plenty!"  said  Skookie,  pointing  his 
short  finger  to  the  trail  and  then  down  to  the 
beach  where  the  carcass  of  the  whale  lay.  Whether 
he  meant  plenty  of  fox  or  plenty  of  food  for  the 
foxes  made  little  difference. 

"They're  feeding  on  the  whale,  now  that  the 
boats  have  gone,"  explained  Rob.  "That  is 
147 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

plain.  Skookie  is  just  showing  us  the  new  trail 
they  have  made  the  last  few  nights." 

Skookie  turned  back  and  began  to  follow  the 
trail  toward  the  mountain.  Without  comment 
the  others  followed  him,  and  so  they  ran  the  faint 
path  back  until  it  climbed  directly  up  the  steep 
bluff,  fifty  feet  in  height,  and  struck  a  long,  flat, 
higher  level,  where  the  foxes  all  seemed  to  have 
established  an  ancient  highway.  Several  trails 
here  crossed,  although  each  held  its  own  way  and 
did  not  merge  with  the  others;  as  though  there 
were  bands  of  foxes  which  came  from  one  locality 
and  did  not  mingle  with  the  others. 

"Now,  what  made  him  come  up  here?"  asked 
John,  whose  shorter  legs  were  beginning  to  tire 
of  this  long  walk.  "We're  getting  a  good  way 
from  home." 

"Just  wait,"  advised  Jesse.  "We'll  learn  some 
thing  yet,  I  shouldn't  wonder.  Skookie's  after 
something;  that's  plain." 

Indeed,  the  young  Aleut,  not  much  farther  on, 
began  now  to  stoop  and  examine  the  trail  closely. 
At  length  he  pointed  his  brown  finger  at  a  certain 
spot  near  the  trail.  The  others  bent  over  the 
place. 

"Something's  been  here,"  said  Jesse.  The 
moss  had  been  dug  out  and  put  back  again. 

148 


THE    SILVER. GRAY    FOX 

Skookie  smiled  and  walked  on  a  little  farther 
and  showed  them  several  other  such  places  a  few 
yards  apart.  He  held  up  the  fingers  of  one  hand. 

"Five  klipsie,"  he  said,  and  then  swept  an 
arm  around  toward  the  face  of  the  mountains, 
remarking:  "My  peoples  come  here." 

"Oh,"  said  Rob;  "he  means  that  here  is  where 
his  family  come  to  set  their  klipsie  traps  for  foxes. 
I  suppose  these  places  are  where  the  same  klipsies 
were  set  five  different  times.  I  have  heard  that 
when  they  catch  a  fox  in  one  place  they  always 
take  up  their  trap  and  move  it  on  a  little  way 
so  that  the  other  foxes  may  not  be  frightened 
away  by  the  smell  of  the  dead  fox  or  the  trap." 

"I  wonder,"  said  Jesse,  "if  any  fox  would  have 
good  fur  this  late  in  the  spring." 

"He  might,"  said  Rob,  "if  he  had  been  living 
all  the  time  up  in  the  mountains  near  the  snow; 
but  as  the  natives  trap  a  good  deal  along  the 
beach,  I  suppose  they  took  up  their  traps  some 
time  ago.  They  never  like  to  take  fur  unless  it  is 
good,  of  course." 

"Anyhow,"  said  Jesse,  "I  shouldn't  mind  try 
ing  once  for  a  fox.  We  might  get  a  good  one. 
I've  heard  they  catch  foxes  sometimes — silver- 
grays  or  blacks,  you  know — that  are  worth  three 
or  four  hundred  dollars." 
149 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"Or  even  more/'  added  Rob;  "but  that  is 
when  they're  very  prime,  and  when  they  bring 
the  top  of  the  market." 

Skookie  looked  from  one  to  the  other,  but  final 
ly  made  up  his  own  mind.  He  led  out  on  the  way 
toward  the  barabbara,  where  very  methodically 
he  set  to  work  carrying  out  his  purpose.  He 
rummaged  among  the  klipsie  butts  in  the  back 
part  of  the  hut  until  he  got  one  to  suit  him,  and 
then  without  any  hesitation  led  the  way  a  few 
hundred  yards  distant  from  the  hut  where,  part 
ing  the  grass,  he  disclosed  the  cache  or  hiding- 
place  where  the  owners  of  the  klipsies  had  secreted 
the  traps;  they,  in  their  cunning,  not  wishing  to 
leave  the  entire  trap  in  the  possession  of  any 
stranger  who  might  come  to  the  house. 

Fumbling  in  this  heap  of  narrow  sticks,  each 
of  which  was  about  as  long  as  a  boy's  arm, 
Skookie  at  last  picked  out  one  which  suited  him. 
They  discovered  that  the  end  of  it  was  armed 
with  four  or  five  spikes  apparently  made  of  old 
nails  hammered  to  a  point  and  filed  into  a  barb. 

Skookie  now  took  this  arm  of  his  klipsie  to 
where  he  had  left  the  butt  or  hub  of  the  trap,  and 
he  loosened  up  the  heavy,  braided  cord  of  sinew 
which  passed  from  end  to  end  through  the  butt. 
He  pushed  the  butt  end  of  the  arm  in  between 

150 


THE    SILVER. GRAY    FOX 

these  sinews  so  that  pulling  it  sidewise  twisted 
the  sinews.  Then  he  drove  tight  the  wedges  at 
each  end  of  the  hub,  so  straining  the  sinews  tight 
ly  about  the  arm  of  the  trap.  Thus,  as  the  boys 
readily  saw,  a  great  force  was  exerted  when  the 
arm  of  the  trap  was  pulled  back. 

"That  is  what  they  call  ' torsion/  I  think," 
said  Rob.  "It  is  like  a  gate-spring  which  pushes 
hard  when  you  twist  it.  Look  at  those  sinews — 
thick  as  your  thumb-^and  even  one  little  sinew 
is  strong  enough  to  hang  an  ox!" 

Skookie  went  on  with  his  work  until  he  thought 
the  strain  on  the  arm  was  sufficient.  Then  he 
pulled  the  arm  back  and  caught  it  under  a  slight 
notch  which  was  cut  in  the  side  of  the  hub,  which 
itself  was  open  on  one  side  to  allow  the  passage 
of  the  arm.  When  the  trap  was  thus  set  it  lay 
flat  on  the  ground,  and  Skookie  motioned  the 
boys  to  keep  away  from  it — something  which  all 
were  willing  to  do,  for  the  barbed  arm  of  the 
klipsie  resembled  nothing  so  much  as  a  fanged 
serpent  with  its  head  back  ready  to  strike  a  ter 
rible  blow. 

"  Natives  get  caught  in  these  traps  sometimes," 
said  Rob;  "so  the  old  trappers  tell  me.  Some 
times  they  get  crippled  for  life.  You  see,  these 
iron  points  here  strike  a  man  just  about  at  the 

151 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

knee  joint,  and  that's  pretty  bad  when  there  is  no 
doctor  around." 

Skookie,  going  ahead  with  his  work,  fumbled  in 
his  pocket  and  fished  out  a  piece  of  hide  cord, 
which  he  measured  off  to  a  certain  length  be 
tween  his  arms;  then,  picking  up  a  bit  of  stick, 
he  whittled  out  a  pointed  peg  and  attached  one 
end  of  his  cord  to  this,  while  he  arranged  the 
other  so  that  it  would  control  the  trigger  which 
held  the  arm  in  place  on  the  farther  side  of  the 
klipsie  bow.  Now  he  stretched  out  his  cord  and 
pushed  the  peg  into  the  earth  as  though  it  crossed 
a  fox  path,  and  made  a  motion  of  a  fox  walking 
along  and  touching  his  leg  against  the  cord.  To 
do  this  he  took  a  long  stick  instead  of  using  his 
own  limb. 

Whang!  went  the  klipsie f  the  fanged  arm 
whirling  over  so  fast  that  the  eye  could  hardly 
follow  it,  and  burying  its  points  in  the  ground. 
Skookie  laughed  and  danced  up  and  down,  show 
ing  how  it  certainly  would  have  killed  a  fox  had 
the  latter  been  there. 

"Come  on,"  said  John;  "let's  go  set  it  some 
where." 

"All  light!"  said  Skookie,  who  understood  a 
great  many  words  from  their  apparent  connec 
tion.  He  took  up  his  trap,  with  the  hub  under 

152 


THE    SILVER. GRAY    FOX 

his  arm,  and  headed  off  up  the  beach  toward 
the  spot  where  they  had  first  seen  the  fox  trail 
two  or  three  hours  before. 

Following  along  the  faint  trail  for  some  dis 
tance,  but  taking  care  not  to  step  in  it,  he  at 
length  struck  it  where  it  passed  through  the  tall 
grass.  Here  he  squatted  down  and  made  some 
sort  Of  strange  passes  over  his  trap,  mumbling 
certain  words  in  a  strange  tongue.  Like  all  of  his 
people,  Skookie  was  superstitious.  What  he  want 
ed  to  do  now  was  to  wish  his  trap  good-luck. 
Having  attended  to  this  part  of  his  ceremony,  he 
drew  his  knife  and  began  to  detach  a  square  of 
the  thick,  matted  moss,  making  a  cavity  about 
arm's  distance  at  one  side  of  the  path.  In  this 
hole  he  buried  the  hub  of  the  klipsie  and  covered 
it  carefully  with  moss,  so  that  nothing  was  left 
to  show.  The  arm,  which  lay  back  still  farther 
in  the  grass,  he  covered  up  lightly  so  that  it  also 
would  be  concealed  from  view.  Then,  carefully, 
he  stretched  his  trigger  string  across  the  path, 
mixing  it  up  with  some  of  the  dried  spears  of 
grass  so  that  it  lay  a  foot  or  less  above  the  level 
of  the  path,  or  at  just  about  the  height  at  which 
the  fore-legs  or  breast  of  the  fox  would  strike  it 
as  the  animal  came  walking  down  the  trail. 
Having  bent  the  grass  above  his  klipsie,  and  ar- 

153 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

ranged  everything  so  that  the  place  showed  no 
signs  of  what  had  been  going  on,  Skookie  at  last 
smiled,  stood  back,  and  looked  cheerfully  at  his 
work;  then  he  cast  a  glance  toward  the  skies, 
and  made  a  sign  with  his  ringers  held  downward 
as  though  to  indicate  falling  rain. 

"Bime-by  water!"  he  said. 

"He  means  that  he  wants  it  to  rain,"  said  Rob, 
"so  that  the  scent  will  all  be  washed  off  from  the 
trap  and  from  the  ground  around  it." 

"Well,"  said  John,  "if  the  water  is  about  the 
way  it  averages,  he  won't  have  to  wait  longer 
than  to-night  for  his  rain."  Which,  indeed,  was 
the  case,  for  in  the  night,  while  they  were  all  safe 
ly  in  the  barabbara  around  the  fire,  the  rain  came 
as  usual,  sufficient  to  blot  out  all  trace  of  their 
late  work  on  the  fox  trails. 

The  following  morning  the  boys  at  once  began 
to  wonder  what  luck  had  met  their  trapping  op 
erations.  It  did  not  appear  to  them  likely  that 
they  would  catch  anything  the  first  night;  but 
Skookie,  it  seemed,  was  of  a  different  opinion. 
After  breakfast  he  led  the  way  to  the  place  where 
the  trap  lay,  and  without  hesitation  walked  into 
the  tall  grass,  stooped  down,  and  at  once  held  up 
to  view  a  long,  dark  animal  at  sight  of  which  the 
boys  uttered  a  joint  whoop  of  joy! 
154 


THE    SILVER. GRAY    FOX 

"We  got  him!"  said  John.  "We  certainly  did 
get  a  fox,  and  the  very  first  night,  too." 

"Yes,"  agreed  Rob,  "we  did  more  than  that: 
we  got  a  silver-gray  fox,  and  a  mighty  good  one 
at  that.  Was  there  ever  such  luck,  I  do  won 
der!" 

Skookie  took  it  all  as  a  matter  of  course,  but 
the  others  were  much  excited  over  this  discovery. 
They  put  the  silky,  handsome  animal  upon  the 
ground  and  began  to  smooth  out  its  fur.  The 
fangs  of  the  klipsie  had  struck  it  in  the  back 
of  the  neck  and  killed  it  instantly,  so  that  the 
coat  remained  quite  smooth  and  undisturbed  by 
any  struggles.  It  was  long  and  silky — dark,  with 
white-tipped  tail,  and  gray  extremities  on  all  the 
hairs  of  the  back. 

"This  skin  ought  to  be  worth  anyhow  one 
hundred  dollars,"  said  Rob,  critically.  "At  least 
that  would  be  my  guess  at  it.  The  natives  don't 
often  get  that  much,  but  sometimes  a  trader  will 
buy  a  skin  for  fifty  dollars  and  sell  it  for  five  or 
six  hundred.  That  all  depends  on  the  sort  of 
market  he  finds." 

"Anyhow,"  said  Jesse,  "it  proves  that  Skookie 
can  trap  foxes  all  right." 

The  young  Aleut  was  not  disturbed  by  this 
praise,  and  proceeded  to  further  prove  his  ability 
155 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

as  a  trapper.  Having  again  set  his  klipsie  at  a 
point  a  few  yards  farther  down  the  trail,  he  took 
up  the  dead  fox  and  led  the  way  back  to  the 
barabbara,  where  he  undertook  to  carry  the  car 
cass  in  for  his  skinning  operations. 

At  this  Rob  demurred,  for  he  had  already  seen 
proof  of  the  custom  of  the  native  trappers,  who 
nearly  always  skin  out  their  game  at  the  fireside 
of  the  barabbara,  and  who  are  very  careless  where 
they  leave  the  carcasses. 

"No,  you  don't!"  said  Rob.  " We've  just 
cleaned  out  that  house,  and  we  don't  want  it 
mussed  up  again  so  soon.  Let's  go  over  to  the 
beach  and  skin  our  fox." 

Skookie,  always  docile  and  willing  to  obey, 
once  more  led  the  way,  carrying  the  fox  under  his 
arm.  At  last  he  seated  himself  on  the  ground, 
sharpened  his  knife-blade  on  a  stone,  and  began 
to  skin  out  the  fox,  much  as  an  old  trapper  would. 
He  made  a  cut  from  one  hind  leg  to  the  other, 
cut  off  the  tail  bone,  pulled  the  tail  off  clean  by 
the  use  of  two  sticks  clamped  against  the  bone, 
and  proceeded  to  remove  the  skin  from  the  body 
without  splitting  it  along  the  belly — "casing" 
it,  as  trappers  call  it.  So  carefully  did  he  do 
his  work  that  he  did  not  make  the  slightest 
cut  around  the  eyes  or  ears  or  nostrils,  and  even 
156 


THE    SILVER-GRAY    FOX 

brought  off  the  whiskers  of  the  muzzle  without 
disfiguring  the  skin  in  the  least. 

Next  he  found  a  spreader,  or  tapering  board, 
under  the  eaves  of  the  barabbara,  and  over  this 
he  stretched  his  iox-skin,  inside  out,  setting  it 
away  in  the  back  part  of  the  barabbara,  where  it 
would  slowly  dry  without  being  exposed  to  the 
•fire. 

"Well,  he  certainly  is  a  trapper,  all  right,"  said 
John,  admiringly.  "Now  I  believe  we  could  do 
that  sort  of  thing  ourselves.  I  don't  see  any  rea 
son  why  we  shouldn't  get  a  lot  of  foxes  here,  and 
maybe  make  some  money  out  of  the  skins  some 
day." 

Rob  shook  his  head.  "I  don't  think  so,"  said 
he.  "Even  this  skin,  although  it  is  not  yet 
rusty  from  the  sunlight,  is  not  perfectly  prime,  as 
you  can  see  by  looking  at  the  inside  of  the  skin. 
A  really  prime  skin  is  white  and  clear,  and  you 
can  see  that  this  one  is  just  a  little  blue  along  the 
back.  That  isn't  a  good  sign  to  me." 

Rob's  guess  as  to  the  fur  soon  proved  to  be 
correct.  For  four  more  nights  they  watched  their 
klipsie  trap  without  success.  On  the  fifth  morn 
ing  they  found  another  dead  fox  in  the  trap,  with 
the  barbs  through  his  back.  This,  however,  was 
only  a  "  cross  "  fox,  and  his  fur  proved  so  worn 
157 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

and  rusty  that  Skookie  scornfully  refused  to  take 
off  the  hide.  That  ended  their  fox-trapping,  for 
Rob  refused  to  allow  any  more  foxes  to  be  killed. 
Skookie,  apparently  willing  to  go  on  with  his 
work,  or  to  stop  as  they  preferred,  smilingly  took 
up  his  klipsie,  after  he  had  sprung  the  trap,  de 
tached  the  arm,  and  restored  the  separated  parts 
to  their  original  hiding-places. 

" Plenty  times  my  peoples  come  here,"  he  said, 
smiling. 

"That  means,"  said  Jesse,  "that  some  time  or 
other,  if  we  have  luck,  we  may  be  discovered  here 
by  his  people,  even  if  our  own  people  never  find 
us." 

"Yes,"  Rob  added,  "but  I  only  hope  that'  may 
be  before  winter  comes  and  leaves  us  unable  to 
get  out." 


XXI 

AN   ALEUT  GOOSE-HUNT 

A  LTHOUGH  utterly  remote  from  the  ordinary 
-L\.  haunts  of  man,  our  young  hunters  found 
their  new  environment  one  free  from  monotony, 
after  all.  The  sea  was  never  twice  the  same,  and 
even  the  weather  was  capricious  enough  to  afford 
variety.  As  spring  wore  on  the  region  seemed  to 
teem  with  wild  life,  whether  on  the  earth,  in  the 
water,  or  the  air.  The  gulls,  crows,  ravens,  and 
eagles  were  continually  passing,  with  clouds  of 
shags  or  cormorants,  which  nested  on  the  rocks  a 
mile  or  so  down  the  bay,  together  with  numbers 
of  oyster -birds,  whale -birds,  and  other  strange 
fowl  of  the  outlying  coast. 

Each  night  and  morning  also  there  passed  up 
the  lagoon  a  stream  of  honking  and  chattering 
wild-fowl,  the  largest  of  which  and  most  valuable, 
though  least  attainable,  were  the  great  Canada 
geese,  which  frequented  this  part  of  the  island  in 
large  numbers. 

159 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"If  only  we  could  get  hold  of  some  of  those 
fellows/'  said  John,  longingly,  one  morning,  as 
they  saw  an  especially  fine  flock  pass  slowly  up 
toward  the  head  of  the  lagoon.  "I'll  warrant 
they'd  be  good  to  eat.  See,  some  of  them  can 
hardly  fly  yet,  they're  so  young." 

"Yes,"  said  Jesse,  "if  we  had  only  thought  of 
it  last  week,  they  probably  would  not  have  been 
able  to  fly  at  all — flappers,  they  call  those  young 
birds.  Then  we  might  possibly  have  killed  some 
of  them  in  the  grass  at  the  head  of  the  lagoon." 

"We  could  kill  all  we  wanted  now  with  the 
rifles,"  commented  Rob;  "but,  as  I  said  awhile 
ago,  I  don't  think  we  ought  to  use  rifle  ammuni 
tion  for  killing  birds.  No  one  can  tell  how  much 
we  may  need  our  cartridges  later  on.  No,  I  don't 
think  we  will  get  any  geese  unless  we  can  catch 
them  with  our  hands.  I  haven't  much  faith  in 
those  thro  wing-cords  that  Skookie  was  showing 
us." 

John  turned  to  his  friend  Skookie.  "S'pose 
you  catch-um  geese,  Skookie?"  he  asked. 

The  Aleut  boy  surprised  them  very  much  by 
his  sudden  use  of  English. 

"Sure!"  he  said.  He  had  perhaps  learned  this 
word  from  associating  with  whites  somewhere 
down  the  coast. 

160 


AN    ALEUT    GOOSE. HUNT 

His  prompt  reply  made  them  all  laugh,  but 
none  the  less  it  was  of  yet  greater  interest  than 
this. 

"How  do  you  mean,  Skookie?"  asked  Rob. 
"How  can  you  catch  a  goose  when  you  have  no 
gun?  You  can't  get  close  enough." 

It  was  always  a  problem  how  much  English 
the  Aleut  understood  or  did  not  understand. 
Now  he  made  his  answer  by  diving  into  the  back 
of  the  barabbara  and  coming  out  with  the  curious 
bunch  of  thongs  which  the  boys  had  noticed  him 
carrying  when  they  first  encountered  him  on  the 
beach — a  dozen  thongs  attached  to  a  common 
centre,  each  being  a  couple  of  yards  in  length, 
and  each  bearing  at  its  extremity  a  perforated 
ivory  ball  perhaps  of  an  ounce  or  so  in  weight. 

"Well,  that  don't  look  very  much  like  a  goose- 
hunt  to  me,"  said  John;  "but  it  seems  to  me  I've 
read  about  the  Eskimos  using  something  of  this 
sort.  Maybe  it  '11  work  on  geese,  though  it  looks 
like  a  mighty  funny  kind  of  shot-gun  to  me." 

"It's  an  old  weapon  of  wild  people,"  said  Rob. 
"I've  read  about  that  sort  of  thing.  They  use 
it  in  South  America  for  catching  animals,  and 
there  they  call  it  the  bolas,  or  balls.  I  think  they 
use  stones  down  there,  and  of  course  they  are  a 
great  deal  heavier  than  these  little  ivory  weights." 
161 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

He  motioned  to  Skookie  to  show  how  he  pro 
posed  to  use  this  curious  device.  The  Aleut, 
understanding  perfectly  what  was  required,  again 
caught  the  thongs  by  their  central  ring  and 
deftly  began  to  whirl  them  about  his  head.  Aim 
ing  at  a  post  which  stood  up  in  the  grass  near 
the  barabbara,  he  finally  cast  loose  his  whirling 
thongs,  which  promptly  wrapped  tightly  around 
the  post  as  they  flew.  The  young  brown  hunter 
grinned  at  this,  and  all  the  boys  were  surprised 
at  the  force  with  which  the  thongs  clung  about 
the  object  of  the  aim. 

"Jinks!"  said  John.  "I  shouldn't  wonder  if 
they'd  kill  a  bird,  if  they  hit  it,  or  anyhow  tie  it 
up.  The  question  is,  how  can  you  get  close 
enough  to  the  geese  to  catch  them  with  this  sort 
of  arrangement.  A  goose  is  about  the  wildest 
thing  in  the  world.  I  don't  suppose  Skookie 
could  hit  anything  very  far." 

"I  don't  know,"  mused  Rob.  "But  why  not 
let  him  try?  If  the  birds  are  done  nesting,  and 
the  young  ones  are  flying,  they  would  make  a 
mighty  good  addition  to  our  table  if  we  could  get 
some  of  them." 

Another  flock  of  geese  passed  by.  Rob  pointed 
from  the  thong-cords  toward  the  geese. 

"S'pose  you  catch-urn?"  he  asked  of  Skookie. 

162 


AN    ALEUT    GOOSE-HUNT 

The  boy  smiled,  and  without  a  word  picked  up 
his  thongs  and  led  the  way  along  the  shore  of  the 
lagoon.  The  others  followed,  seeing  that  he  pro 
posed  to  capture  some  wild-fowl  in  the  native  way, 
as  he  had  once  before  intimated  might  be  done. 

He  was  no  bad  hunter,  this  young  savage. 
After  locating  a  big  flock  of  geese  which  were 
sunning  themselves  on  the  mud  flats  close  to  the 
grass,  he  led  his  companions  far  back  from  'the 
water,  making  a  wide  detour.  At  length  he 
began  to  approach  the  fowl  from  a  point  where 
they  would  be  concealed  by  the  heavy  grass.  It 
seemed  an  age  to  the  white  boys,  but  Skookie  was 
in  no  hurry.  Like  a  cat  he  crawled  and  crawled, 
a  few  inches  at  a  time,  until  finally  he  reached  a 
point  where  they  could  hear  the  contented  croak 
ing  and  jabbering  of  the  geese  as  they  rested,  en 
tirely  unsuspicious  of  any  danger.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  in  this  part  of  the  world  the 
wild-fowl  are  seldom  if  ever  disturbed,  and  hence 
are  far  less  suspicious  than  when  they  are  near  to 
civilization.  If  these  honkers  suspected  anything 
at  all  now,  they  did  no  more  than  occasionally 
lift  their  heads  and  crane  their  long  necks  around. 
They  could  see  nothing,  because  their  pursuers 
were  all  crouched  low  beneath  the  tops  of  the 
grasses. 

163 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

The  Aleut  boy  kept  on  his  stealthy  approach — 
little  by  little — until  finally  he  was  within  thirty 
or  forty  yards  of  the  edge  of  the  water,  along 
which  the  great  wild-fowl  were  scattered.  Rob 
nudged  him  to  get  up  and  throw,  but  Skookie 
knew  his  own  business  better.  Without  uttering 
a  sound  he  crawled  forward  rapidly  a  few  paces, 
on  his  hands  and  knees,  then  sprang  to  his  feet 
and  ran  rapidly  through  the  grass  toward  the 
edge  of  the  water,  uttering  the  while  wild  whoops 
as  he  began  to  swing  the  thongs  about  his  head. 

"Look  out !"  cried  John.  "They'll  all  get  away! 
Why  don't  he  throw?" 

But  Skookie  did  not  undertake  to  throw  so 
long  as  the  geese  were  on  the  ground.  He  knew 
that  the  young  geese  were  weak  and  not  used  to 
flight,  and  that  even  at  its  best  a  wild  goose  is 
slow  and  heavy  to  take  wing. 

All  these  geese,  some  scores  of  young  and  old, 
intermingled,  now  began  to  scream,  squawk,  and 
honk,  and  clumsily  to  take  wing  as  best,  they 
could.  Thus  they  rose  in  a  confused  brown  mass, 
almost  in  the  face  of  the  young  hunter,  who  ad 
vanced  rapidly,  whirling  the  weighted  cords  about 
his  head.  At  precisely  the  right  instant,  and  not 
upset  by  the  sudden  clamor  of  the  rising  fowl,  the 
Aleut  boy  straightened  his  arm  in  front  of  him 
164 


THE     ALEUT    BOY    LAUNCHED    HIS    MISSILE    INTO    THE    MASS    OF    FLYING 

FOWL 


AN    ALEUT    GOOSE-HUNT 

and  launched  his  missile  with  precision  into  the 
very  middle  of  the  flapping  mass  of  flying  fowl. 

The  execution  done  was  perhaps  no  more  than 
he  expected,  but  as  the  white  boys  saw  his  suc 
cess  they  broke  into  a  cheer.  As  the  startled 
flock  screamed  and  honked  away,  down  came 
two  of  the  fowl,  one  with  broken  wing  and  an 
other  laid  fair  about  the  neck  by  the  gripping 
cords  which  had  encircled  it.  Before  they  could 
escape,  all  the  boys  were  after  them,  plunging  into 
the  mud  and  water,  careless  of  anything  but  their 
game.  They  found  that  one  of  their  geese  was 
an  old  gander,  but  the  other  was  a  fat  young 
bird,  which  John  fondled  with  the  utmost  in 
terest. 

"Til  bet  you  this  one  '11  be  good  to  eat!"  said 
he.  " Let's  go  back  and  see  how  it  goes." 

"I  wonder  if  you  ever  will  get  enough  to  eat, 
John!"  said  Rob,  reprovingly.  "We  have  only 
had  breakfast  an  hour  or  so.  But  I'm  agreed 
that  young  wild  goose  will  make  a  good  change 
of  diet  for  luncheon." 

He  patted  Skookie  on  the  shoulder  to  compli 
ment  him  on  his  skill. 

"Plenty  times  me  catch-um,"  said  Skookie, 
proudly,  as  he  untangled  his  cords.  "Plenty 
times  my  peoples  come  dis  place." 

165 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

Whether  he  meant  that  his  people  had  been 
hunting  here  very  often,  or  intended  to  hunt  here 
often,  they  could  not  understand.  Happier  than 
they  had  been  for  some  days,  they  went  back  to 
the  hut,  picked  the  old  goose,  skinned  out  the 
breast  of  the  young  one,  and  began,  somewhat  un 
skilfully,  to  prepare  for  the  cookery  of  their  new 
game.  The  best  they  could  do  was  to  cut  the 
breast  of  the  fowl  into  strips  and  fry  it  with  some 
of  the  bear  fat  in  the  broken  skillet.  Even  so, 
they  found  it  delicious  eating. 

Skookie,  after  the  fashion  of  his  people,  sat  on 
the  ground  cross-legged,  and  when  it  came  his 
turn  to  help  himself  from  the  common  dish  he 
plunged  his  fingers  into  the  hot  contents,  and 
fishing  out  a  long  piece  introduced  it  into  his 
mouth.  When  his  mouth  was  full  as  it  would 
hold  he  took  his  knife-blade,  and  after  his  fashion 
cut  off  a  piece  close  to  his  lips,  on  the  outside— 
the  way  in  which  most  of  these  Northwestern 
natives  eat  their  meat.  The  other  boys,  who  had 
been  reared  with  different  ideas  of  table  manners, 
looked  at  him  with  surprise.  Skookie  did  not 
seem  to  notice,  but  munched  away  contentedly, 
repeating  the  performance  now  and  then. 

"  If  that's  the  way  they  eat  up  here,"  said  John, 
at  last,  "I  suppose  we  ought  to  learn  how  to  do 

166 


AN    ALEUT    GOOSE-HUNT 

it."  So  saying,  soberly  he  began  to  sharpen  his 
knife  on  a  near-by  stone,  as  he  had  seen  Skookie 
do,  and,  taking  a  piece  of  goose  breast  in  one  hand, 
he  partly  rilled  his  mouth  and  undertook  to  cut 
it  off  at  the  proper  length.  At  once  he  uttered  a 
wild  cry,  and  dropped  both  knife  and  morsel  to 
the  ground.  Blood  flowed  from  his  face,  and  he 
clapped  his  hand  to  the  end  of  his  nose,  which 
he  had  nearly  severed  with  the  stroke  of  his 
knife,  as  it  had  slipped  unexpectedly  through  the 
piece  of  meat. 

"  Now  look  at  you !"  said  Jesse.  "  You've  pretty 
near  cut  off  your  nose ;  that's  what  you've  done. 
That  comes  of  forgetting  the  way  you  were 
brought  up.  Come  here — let  me  see  how  badly 
you're  hurt." 

Skookie  broke  out  into  wild  peals  of  laughter 
at  this  mishap,  which  left  John  none  too  well 
pleased.  Rob  and  Jesse,  however,  bent  over  him 
as  he  whimpered  with  the  pain,  and  did  what  they 
could  to  make  amends  for  the  disaster. 

"Hot  water  is  best  for  a  cut,"  said  Rob,  taking 
their  tea-vessel  from  the  fire  and  looking  about 
for  a  piece  of  rag.  Thus,  in  short,  by  the  free 
use  of  hot  water,  he  did  at  length  stop  the  flow 
of  blood  in  part,  at  least. 

"John,"  said  he,  at  last,  "you  came  mighty 

"  167 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

near  spoiling  your  beauty.  Your  nose  is  turned 
up,  anyhow,  and  now  you  have  nearly  cut  off 
a  half  inch  more  of  it.  Lucky  for  you  the  carti 
lage  was  tough,  or  you  would  have  looked  more 
like  an  Ethiopian  than  an  American.  I  guess  it 
will  grow  fast  again,  although  you  will  have  to 
wear  a  handkerchief  tied  around  your  face  and 
head  for  some  time." 

"I  don't  care,"  mumbled  John.  "I  wanted  to 
see  how  they  did  it." 

"Well,  you  know  now,"  Rob  assured  him,  in 
a  matter-of-fact  way.  ' '  But  I  would  suggest  that 
you  eat  in  the  ordinary  civilized  fashion  after 
this,  because  you  haven't  any  more  nose  than 
you  need,  and  your  mother  might  not  like  you 
to  come  home  with  a  part  of  it  missing." 

It  was  some  days  before  the  smart  of  this 
wound  was  entirely  gone,  but  it  may  be  said  that 
in  time  it  healed  and  left  but  a  slight  scar  at  the 
lower  end  of  the  nose,  although  John  for  some 
days  went  about  with  a  handkerchief  tied  about 
his  face.  This  did  not  prevent  his  taking  part  in 
future  goose-hunts,  which  came  to  be  a  regular 
part  of  their  programme. 

Before  the  geese  had  become  too  wise  they  suc 
ceeded  in  killing  several  dozen  with  the  thongs, 
each  of  them  taking  his  turn  and  throwing  them, 
168 


AN    ALEUT    GOOSE-HUNT 

which  they  found  not  so  difficult  an  art  to  mas 
ter,  after  all.  Skookie  showed  them  how  to  smoke 
the  breasts  of  these  wild- fowl  so  that  they  would 
keep,  and  thus  they  made  a  valuable  addition  to 
their  stores. 


XXII 

SPORT   WITH  THE  SALMON 

"  \  TATU  salmon,"  said  Skookie  one  morning, 
-*  *  poking  his  head  in  at  the  door  of  the  ba- 
rabbara,  where  the  others  still  sat,  washing  up 
the  breakfast  dishes. 

"  What's  that  he  says,  John?"  asked  Rob,  who 
seemed  less  ready  than  the  younger  boy  to  pick 
up  the  native  speech. 

"  Natu  means  nothing  or  no  or  not,"  inter 
preted  John.  "  What's  the  matter  with  the  sal 
mon,  Skookie?" 

They  all  crawled  out  of  the  low-hung  door  and 
followed  the  Aleut  to  the  spot  where  they  had 
left  their  fish  concealed.  They  found  nothing  but 
stripped  bones.  Around  the  spot  hung  a  crowd 
of  great  ravens  and  crows,  protesting  at  being 
disturbed  at  this  easy  meal. 

"We  had  six  fine  salmon  there  last  night," 
grieved  Jesse.  "  They're  awfully  hard  to  catch 
now,  too,  because  they've  got  shy  in  the  shallow 
170 


SPORT    WITH    THE    SALMON 

water.  They're  all  down  in  the  big  hole  at  the 
mouth  of  the  creek,  and  it's  going  to  be  harder 
and  harder  to  get  any.  As  for  the  whale  meat 
that  the  old  chief  left,  I  don't  suppose  it  was 
salted  enough,  and  it  probably  won't  keep." 

"  We'll  have  to  build  some  sort  of  shelter  for 
our  fish  and  game,"  said  Rob,  looking  at  the 
havoc  which  had  been  wrought  by  the  birds. 
"It  isn't  right  to  waste  even  salmon,  abundant 
as  they  are — although  they  may  not  be  so  abun 
dant  after  this,  as  you  say,  Jesse." 

"Til  tell  you  what,"  said  John,  after  a  mo 
ment's  thought,  "I've  got  an  idea!" 

"Well,  what  is  it?" 

"You  know,  there  was  Uncle  Dick's  fishing- 
rod  we  brought  with  us  in  the  dory.  I  took  it 
out  and  pushed  it  under  a  log  at  the  top  of  the 
beach  wall.  Now,  I  put  that  rod  in  the  boat 
carefully  myself,  because  I  knew  how  much  Uncle 
Dick  thought  of  it.  I  don't  suppose  he'll  thank 
us  for  bringing  it  away,  because  it's  his  best  trout 
rod." 

"I  don't  see  what  use  it  would  be  to  us,"  said 
Jesse.  "It's  too  light  to  tie  a  grab  hook  to,  and 
even  if  you  hooked  it  into  a  salmon  the  rod  would 
break." 

"Yes,"  said  Rob,  "a  trout  rod  isn't  meant  in 
171 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

any  case  for  fish  as  heavy  as  this.  Besides,  you 
see,  these  salmon  never  take  a  fly ;  even  if  we  had 
any  flies  to  go  with  the  rod,  or  any  line,  or  any 
reel,  for  that  matter." 

"The  reel  is  on  the  butt  joint  of  the  rod;  I'm 
pretty  sure  I  saw  it  there.  Come,  let's  find  out ! 
I  tell  you,  I've  got  an  idea,"  insisted  John. 

They  all  repaired  to  the  beach  where,  as  prom 
ised,  John  produced  the  rod  from  its  hiding-place 
under  the  drift-wood  log.  True,  the  reel  was 
there  in  place.  Without  delay  he  put  the  joints 
of  the  rod  together,  finding  some  difficulty  in  this, 
for  the  rain  and  salt  air  had  not  improved  it  in 
the  least.  None  the  less  they  threaded  the  line 
through  the  guides  and  found  that  everything 
was  serviceable. 

"Uncle  Dick  would  not  care,"  said  John,  "if 
he  knew  just  how  we  are  situated." 

"Still,  I  don't  get  your  idea,"  began  Rob. 

"Well,  I  don't  know  whether  or  not  it's  a  very 
good  one,"  answered  John;  "but  who's  got  a 
few  little  hooks  to  lend  me  now?" 

"Here  are  two  or  three,"  said  Jesse,  fishing  in 
his  pockets.  "They're  about  big  enough  for  bait 
hooks  for  trout,  but  salmon  won't  take  any  bait. 
I  don't  see  what  you  mean." 

John  made  no  comment,  but  cut  off  two  or 
172 


SPORT    WITH    THE    SALMON 

three  short  pieces  of  the  line  about  a  foot  in 
length.  To  each  of  these  he  attached  one  of  the 
sharp-pointed  little  hooks  and  fastened  them  at 
intervals  a  couple  of  feet  apart  on  the  line.  One 
hook  he  tied  at  the  end  of  the  line  itself. 

"Oh,  I  see!"  said  Rob.  "You  mean  to  throw 
that  outfit  as  though  it  were  a  fly." 

John  nodded.  "If  you  can  cast  as  light  a 
thing  as  a  little  trout  fly  with  this  rod,"  he  said, 
"you  ought  to  be  able  to  cast  these  hooks — 
larger,  not  much  heavier,  and  just  about  right 
to  go  straight.  Anyhow,  let's  go  down  and  try." 

"Good  idea!"  agreed  Rob.  And  they  all  de 
parted,  the  Aleut  boy  with  them,  to  the  lower 
reaches  of  the  stream,  where,  as  has  been  said, 
the  salmon  now  more  frequently  resorted. 

As  they  stood  on  the  bank  above  the  big  pool 
they  looked  down  into  it,  and  saw  that  the  sea- 
tide  run  of  the  salmon  had  brought  in  the  average 
number  of  fish.  The  whole  interior  of  the  pool, 
which  otherwise  would  have  had  a  dark-green  ap 
pearance,  seemed  to  be  made  up  of  melted  silver 
layers,  all  in  motion.  There  were  hundreds  of 
fish  moving  about,  up  and  down,  and  round  and 
round,  hesitating  about  following  up  the  thread 
of  the  fresh  water,  and  not  wanting  to  go  back 
to  the  salt  water,  which  lay  behind  them. 
173 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"  My  gracious,  there's  about  a  million  in  there!" 
exclaimed  John,  peering  over  the  edge. 

"Yes,  but  Skookie  couldn't  get  any  with  the 
snag -pole  now,"  said  Rob.  "They're  getting 
wise  and  stay  too  far  out.  I  shouldn't  wonder 
if  your  idea  was  a  good  one,  if  only  that  rod 
were  stronger." 

Rob  rubbed  his  chin  meditatively.  "You  are 
welcome  to  try  first.  I  don't  want  to  break  that 
rod,  and  I  know  what  will  happen  if  you  hook  on 
to  a  big  fish  with  it." 

John  set  his  lips  in  determination,  none  the 
less,  and  stepped  down  to  the  edge  of  the  pool. 
Slowly  the  interior  mass  of  silver  seemed  to  grow 
fainter.  The  fish  saw  him,  and  moved  gently 
away  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  pool.  Presently, 
however,  they  could  see  the  shining  mass  edge 
back  again  to  the  centre  of  the  pool,  where  the 
deeper  water  was  over  the  gravel. 

John  began  to  cast  the  hooks  back  and  forward 
above  his  head,  as  every  fisherman  does  in  cast 
ing  a  fly.  Little  by  little  he  lengthened  the  line, 
still  keeping  it  in  the  air,  until  he  saw  he  had  out 
enough  to  reach  well  across  the  pool.  Then,  gen 
tly  as  he  could,  he  dropped  the  line  and  its  gang 
of  hooks  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  The  hooks, 
being  small,  wero  not  heavy  enough  to  sink  the 
174 


SPORT    WITH    THE    SALMON 

line  directly.  John  waited  and  allowed  it  to  set 
tle  until  the  hooks  were  flat  on  the  bottom  on 
the  farther  side  of  the  pool.  He  looked  down  on 
the  water  and  saw  the  silvery  mass  divided  in 
two  sections,  as  though  the  line  had  cut  it.  The 
keen  eyes  of  the  fish,  heedless  as  they  usually  are 
in  the  spring  run,  had  now  grown  more  suspicious, 
and  they  settled  apart  as  the  line  came  across 
them,  visible  against  the  sky  as  they  looked  up 
from  below. 

John  made  no  motion  for  a  time;  but  at  last,  as 
the  fish  began  to  settle  back,  he  gently  raised  the 
tip  of  the  rod,  and  began  to  work  the  hooks  tow 
ard  him  across  the  pool  in  short,  steady  jerks.  At 
first  the  line  was  too  low  to  pass  near  the  main 
body  of  the  fish,  but  as  it  shortened  the  hooks 
began  to  travel  up  through  the  depth  of  the  pool. 
Then,  all  at  once — he  never  knew  how,  exactly — 
something  startling  happened.  There  was  a  sud 
den  breaking  of  the  surface  of  the  pool  into  a 
shower  of  spray,  and  with  a  mad  rush  a  big  salmon 
twelve  or  fifteen  pounds  in  weight  nearly  jumped 
into  his  face  as  he  stood  at  the  edge  of  the  water. 

Frightened,  he  dropped  the  tip  of  the  rod,  and 
every  boy  present  gave  an  exclamation  of  sur 
prise.  The  words  were  not  out  of  their  mouths 
before,  suddenly,  the  water  on  the  far  side  of  the 
175 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

pool  was  broken  and  the  spot  at  John's  feet  was 
vacant.  The  fish,  swift  as  lightning,  had  tumbled 
back  after  its  leap  across  the  pool  and  gone  up 
on  the  other  side  in  an  attempt  to  escape  the 
hooks,  one  of  which,  by  chance,  had  fastened  in 
the  lower  jaw.  Therefore,  as  the  fish  could  keep 
its  mouth  closed,  it  was  ready  for  as  fair  a  fight 
as  though  it  had  taken  the  fly,  although  little 
can  be  said  in  praise  of  foul-hooking  a  fish  under 
any  circumstances  save  those  such  as  now  existed, 
for  these  boys  were  in  need  of  food. 

John  had  caught  trout  before,  and  had  seen 
many  a  good  fish  handled  on  a  fly-rod.  After  the 
first  rush  or  two  of  the  fish  he  gathered  in  the 
line  rapidly  with  his  left  hand  and  put  a  strain  on 
the  rod.  The  salmon  at  first  did  not  attempt  to 
repeat  its  earlier  mad  rushes,  but  in  fright  began 
to  circle  the  pool,  scattering  all  the  other  fish  into 
a  series  of  silver  splashes  as  they  spread  this  way 
and  that. 

Having  got  in  touch  with  the  fish,  and  finding 
that  the  hook  still  held,  John  now  reeled  in  all 
the  slack  and  settled  down  to  a  workman-like 
fighting  of  the  fish,  the  others  standing  near  him 
and  volunteering  suggestions  now  and  then,  of 
course. 

"The  tide's  coming  in  all  the  time,"  said  John. 
176 


SPORT    WITH    THE    SALMON 

"If  this  fish  ever  leaves  the  pool  and  starts  across 
on  the  flats,  I  don't  see  what  I'm  going  to  do, 
because  the  creek's  too  deep  to  wade  now." 

The  salmon,  however,  obligingly  kept  to  the 
pool,  once  in  a  while  making  a  mad  leap  into  the 
air  and  shaking  himself.  Skookie,  without  ad 
vice  from  any  one,  stationed  himself  at  the  foot 
of  the  pool,  and  whenever  the  fish  headed  that 
way,  he  tossed  a  stone  in  front,  heading  it  back 
and  keeping  it  from  running  out  toward  the  sea. 
Finally  he  motioned  Jesse  to  take  up  this  work, 
and  without  removing  any  of  his  scanty  clothing, 
or  asking  advice  from  any  one,  walked  up  above 
the  place  where  John  was  standing  and  deliberate 
ly  plunged  into  tlr:  creek  and  swam  across,  tak 
ing  up  a  position  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  pool, 
where  the  tide-water  was  beginning  to  spread  out 
into  the  flats.  Thus  the  boys  had  the  pool  sur 
rounded,  and  whenever  the  fish  started  one  way 
in  dangerous  fashion,  a  stone  thrown  in  front  of 
him  would  usually  turn  him.  All  John  had  to  do 
was  to  keep  the  strain  of  the  rod  on  his  fish  and 
to  see  that  he  had  plenty  of  line  on  the  reel. 

They  fought  the  old  fellow  in  this  way  for  more 

than  half  an  hour,  until  John's  arms  fairly  ached 

from  the  strain  of  the  rod — a  sturdy  split  bamboo 

of  the  best  American  make,  which  well  withstood 

177 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

the  skilful  use  it  now  was  receiving.  There  is 
no  need  to  break  a  fly-rod  when  the  reel  is  full  of 
line,  and  the  strain  can  be  eased  to  suit  the  rushes 
of  the  fish. 

"Well,  I  don't  see  that  we  are  much  closer  to 
our  salmon  than  we  were  when  we  began/'  said 
Rob,  at  last.  "It's  good  fun;  but  a  slow  way  of 
getting  salmon.  Can't  you  pull  him  in  on  the 
line?" 

John  shook  his  head.  "I'm  afraid  it  would 
break,"  said  he.  "Never  you  mind.  We'll  get 
Mr.  Salmon  before  we're  through.  I  can  handle 
him  all  right,  I'm  pretty  sure." 

He  came  near  speaking  too  early,  however,  for 
now,  with  some  impulse  of  its  own  nature,  the 
salmon  concluded  it  had  had  enough  of  this  sort 
of  thing  and  decided  to  go  back  to  sea.  With  a 
long,  straight  rush  it  headed  for  the  bottom  of 
the  pool.  Rob  and  Jesse  began  to  cast  in  rocks, 
but  in  spite  of  all  their  splashing  the  fish  kept 
on  taking  out  yard  after  yard  of  John's  line. 
At  last  John,  still  using  all  the  strain  the  rod 
would  stand,  was  obliged  to  follow  on  shore.  The 
fish  turned  the  corner  of  the  pool  and  entered  the 
narrow  gut  in  the  rocks  which  led  out  to  the  sea, 
where  the  creek  entered  it  over  a  wide  flat  of 
shingle.  John  was  able  to  keep  his  feet  in  the 
178 


SPORT    WITH    THE    SALMON 

hurried  rush  along  shore,  and  he  kept  touch  with 
the  fish  all  through  the  narrows  and  until  it  had 
reached  the  shallows,  where  the  flats  were  now 
covered  two  or  three  feet  deep  with  the  advan 
cing  tide.  Here  the  last  inch  of  his  line  was  ex 
hausted,  and  he  himself,  desperate  in  his  anxiety 
to  keep  his  fish  and  to  save  his  rod,  followed  until 
he  was  waist  deep  in  the  sea.  The  salmon  did 
not  swerve,  but  headed  straight  for  some  distant 
haunt  which  perhaps  it  remembered  as  existing 
out  there  in  the  ocean. 

At  length  John  could  go  no  farther  with  safety, 
and  in  desperation  gave  the  fish  the  butt,  as  an 
angler  says.  The  rod  bent  up  into  a  splendid 
arch,  all  its  strength  being  now  pitted  against  the 
power  of  the  swimming  fish. 

The  latter,  somewhat  tired  by  its  long  flight, 
felt  this  added  resistance  of  the  rod,  and  unable 
to  gain  any  more  line,  since  there  was  no  more  to 
gain,  and  to  ease  itself  of  the  strain,  flung  itself 
high  into  the  air  just  as  the  last  limit  of  the  rod 
was  reached.  Down  it  came  with  a  splash,  but 
this  time  apparently  confused;  for  as  it  fell  on 
the  water  and  chanced  to  head  up-stream,  it 
started  directly  back  over  the  course  it  had 
come.  The  long  slack  of  the  line  could  not  be 
recovered  fast  enough  to  follow  it,  but  the  hook 
179 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

held.  A  moment  later  the  fish  was  back  in  the 
pool,  the  line  back  on  the  reel,  and  John,  perspir 
ing  and  flushed,  was  still  master  of  the  situation. 

After  that  matters  were  simpler.  The  fish  was 
more  tired,  and  its  leaps  into  the  air  were  shorter 
and  more  feeble. 

Without  advice  from  any  one,  Skookie  now  ran 
out  into  the  grass  and  found  his  long  salmon 
gaff.  Wading  at  the  edge  of  the  pool,  he  made 
one  or  two  ineffectual  attempts  to  gaff  the  sal 
mon;  then  flinging  the  pole  across  the  creek  to 
the  others,  again  he  plunged  in,  swam  across,  and 
took  up  his  stand  near  John,  who  by  this  time 
had  shortened  the  line  and  was  fighting  the  fish 
close  in. 

"Now  we'll  get  him!"  cried  Rob.  "Go  slow 
there,  John.  Don't  let  him  break  away.  He's 
headed  in  now.  Just  lead  him  in.  There!" 

With  a  swift,  sure  movement  the  Aleut  boy 
had  gaffed  the  salmon,  and  an  instant  later  it 
was  flapping  high  and  dry  at  the  top  of  the  bank. 
It  seemed  to  them  this  was  a  better  fish  than  any 
they  had  taken  directly  with  the  snagging-pole, 
although,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  the  latter 
implement,  after  all,  which  had  landed  the  fish. 

John  sat  down  on  the  shingle,  tired  after  the 
long  fight.  He  patted  the  rod  affectionately. 

180 


SPORT    WITH    THE    SALMON 

"Talk  about  fun!"  said  he;  "this  is  the  only 
way  to  catch  fish." 

Indeed,  this  proved  much  to  be  the  truth  within 
the  next  few  days,  for  the  salmon  became  so  wary 
as  to  make  it  hard  to  reach  them  by  anything 
but  a  long  line.  Sometimes  it  would  be  an  hour 
before  they  could  foul-hook  a  fish,  but  in  this 
way  they  got  a  number  of  salmon — some  of  them 
fastened  around  the  head,  one  or  two,  strangely 
enough,  directly  in  the  mouth,  and  several  di 
rectly  under  the  back  fin.  Again  a  fish  might  be 
hooked  close  to  the  end  of  the  tail,  and  in  such 
cases  it  was  almost  impossible  to  land  it  for  a 
long  time.  But  with  skill  and  care  the  fly-rod, 
devoted  to  this  somewhat  crude  form  of  sport, 
held  its  own,  and  much  more  than  paid  for  itself 
in  actual  food,  not  to  mention  the  added  sport. 


XXIII 

AMONG   THE   EAGLES 

rTlHE  routine  of  camp  life,  where  one  is  obliged 
-L  to  do  all  the  cooking  and  other  work,  besides 
providing  food,  is  ordinarily  enough  to  keep  the 
camper  pretty  busy.  The  boys  usually  found 
enough  to  do  with  their  hunting,  fishing,  cooking, 
and  other  work,  but  sometimes  in  these  long 
Alaska  days,  where  for  almost  twenty-four  hours 
the  sun  shone  and  the  darkest  night  was  scarcely 
more  than  an  hour  or  so  of  twilight,  they  found 
time  to  wander  around  their  island  in  exploring 
expeditions. 

At  times  they  climbed  one  peak  or  another  al 
most  to  the  top,  but  from  the  loftiest  eminences 
they  attained  they  could  see  nothing  of  the  in 
terior  of  the  island  except  more  and  more  sharp 
and  rugged  peaks  thrusting  themselves  up  —  a 
mountain  region  which,  indeed,  is  little  known  by 
any  white  man,  or  even  by  the  natives,  who  rare 
ly  go  far  inland. 

182 


AMONG    THE    EAGLES 

A  customary  journey  for  them  was  along  one  or 
the  other  of  the  river  valleys  which  came  down 
to  their  bay,  the  mouths  of  which  they  could  reach 
in  calm  weather  easily  by  a  short  journey  in  the 
dory.  Their  favorite  valley  was  that  running 
back  from  what  they  called  "Gull  Rocks."  It 
was  traversed  by  a  good  salmon  river  and  was 
much  frequented  by  wild  animals.  As  it  chanced, 
they  did  not  run  across  any  more  bear,  although 
continually  here  and  elsewhere  they  saw  signs 
where  these  great  animals  had  done  their  work  in 
salmon-fishing — heaps  of  bones  where  scores  of 
fish  had  been  partially  stripped  of  their  flesh. 

On  one  particular  day,  as  the  young  advent 
urers  passed  up  this  valley  on  an  all-day  tramp, 
they  found  the  salmon  heaps  especially  abun 
dant,  and  observed  that  the  numbers  of  crows 
and  eagles  were  more  than  usually  great. 

"I  think  it's  a  new  run  of  fish  coming  in,"  said 
Rob.  "Probably  the 'humpies'  are  beginning  to 
run.  They're  bigger  than  the  red  salmon,  which 
we've  been  having  so  far.  They're  better  to  eat, 
too;  even  the  bears  know  that.  We'd  better 
look  out  or  we  may  run  across  more  bear  in  here 
than  we  want.  See  here  where  this  big  fellow 
was  eating  last  night.  I  suppose  he  has  gone 
back  into  the  mountains  somewhere  by  now. 
13  183 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

And  here  is  where  some  foxes  have  come  down 
and  eaten  what  the  bears  left;  and  the  crows  are 
waiting  to  eat  what  the  foxes  left.  And  look 
there,  at  that  fish-eagle !  Old  Mr.  Osprey  is  work 
ing  for  his  breakfast  now." 

He  pointed  to  a  large,  grayish  bird  which  was 
circling  above  them,  its  neck  bent  down  as  it 
peered  intently  at  the  surface  of  the  stream  be 
low. 

" Watch  him!"  said  Jesse.     "There!" 

All  at  once  the  osprey,  which  had  been  uttering 
a  low  sort  of  whistle,  folded  its  wings  and  darted 
down,  swift  as  a  flash,  at  an  angle  of  about  forty- 
five  degrees.  With  a  resounding  smack,  and  in 
a  cloud  of  white  spray,  it  disappeared  from  view 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  water;  but  instantly, 
with  a  vast  flapping,  it  rose  and  fought  to  get 
wing-hold  on  the  air.  Taking  flight  only  with  the 
utmost  effort,  the  boys  saw  that  it  held  in  its 
talons  a  big  salmon  whose  weight  was  all  it  could 
manage  to  bear  away. 

"Well,  what  do  you  think  of  that?"  said  Jesse. 
" Didn't  he  do  it  easy?  I  should  think  he  would 
break  his  back,  hitting  the  water  that  hard." 

"Yes,"  commented  John;  "if  a  fellow  dives 
from  a  place  ten  feet  high  it's  fall  enough  for 
him ;  but  this  fish-hawk  came  from  two  or  three 
184 


AMONG    THE    EAGLES 

hundred  feet  up  in  the  air.  They  must  be  put 
together  pretty  strong  or  they'd  smash  them 
selves.  Look  at  him  go!" 

Uttering  now  its  shrill  whistle,  the  osprey  rose 
higher  and  higher  in  a  wide  circle,  endeavoring 
to  carry  off  its  prize.  Something  seemed  to  agi 
tate  the  bird,  and  a  moment  later  the  boys  saw 
whp.t  this  was.  High  up  above,  in  still  larger 
circles,  was  a  larger  bird— a  male  bald  eagle, 
which  now  drew  into  position  directly  above  the 
osprey. 

"Now  watch,  and  you  will  see  some  fun,"  said 
Rob.  "No  wonder  Mr.  Osprey  is  mad;  he's 
going  to  lose  his  fish — that's  what's  going  to  hap 
pen  to  him.  Watch  that  eagle!" 

The  two  birds  kept  their  relative  positions — 
the  osprey,  either  angry  or  frightened,  still  strug 
gling  to  get  away  with  its  prey;  the  eagle,  easily 
circling  above  it,  itself  now  and  then  uttering  a 
shrill  cry — a  scream-like  whistle  that  could  be 
heard  at  a  great  distance. 

At  last  the  osprey  gave  up  the  struggle  and 
attempted  to  escape.  With  difficulty  it  detached 
one  foot  from  the  fish,  which  now  fell  down  at 
full  length  and  disarranged  the  osprey's  flight. 
Finally  it  succeeded  in  shaking  the  talons  of  the 
other  foot  free.  The  osprey  made  a  swift  side 
185 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

dash  and  left  the  salmon  to  fall,  at  a  height  of, 
perhaps,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  or  so. 

The  eagle,  which  seemed  to  be  twice  that  high 
above  the  ground,  now  performed  a  feat  which 
the  boys  could  never  understand.  They  did  not 
see  how  he  could  fall  much  faster  than  the  fish ; 
yet  before  their  eyes  they  saw  the  great  bird  half 
fold  its  wings  and  dart  down  swift  as  a  flash. 
Before  the  salmon  had  struck  the  ground  the 
eagle  struck  it,  fair,  with  both  feet,  and,  never 
touching  the  earth  itself,  swung  in  a  wide,  low 
circle,  itself  master  by  robbery  of  the  prize  which 
the  labor  of  the  fish-hawk  had  won. 

"Look  at  that  old  thief!"  said  Rob.  "It's  a 
funny  thing  to  me  that  an  eagle  can't  very  often 
catch  fish  for  himself,  plentiful  as  they  are  here. 
Yet  you'll  notice  that  if  an  eagle  is  on  a  tree  di 
rectly  over  the  salmon  he  can't  start  quick  enough 
to  catch  a  fish — it  '11  always  swim  away  from 
him.  They  catch  some  in  shallow  water,  but 
they  don't  seem  to  be  very  good  fishermen  after 
all.  A  bald-headed  eagle  would  rather  steal  a  fish 
from  an  osprey  than  to  catch  one  for  himself,  and 
we've  just  seen  how  it's  done.  Watch  the  old 
thief!" 

The  eagle,  apparently  contented  with  his  mom- 
ing's  work,  leisurely  rose  and  flapped  on  his  way 
186 


AMONG    THE    EAGLES 

toward  a  clump  of  small  cotton-woods.  At  the 
summit  of  a  small  tree  he  perched,  holding  the 
fish  under  his  feet  and  uttering  now  some  short, 
shrill  cries,  which  the  boys  could  hear  answered 
from  the  heap  of  brush  which  they  saw  was  the 
nest  prepared  by  these  birds.  There  were  scores 
of  these  rude  nests  scattered  along  the  timber 
flats. 

"  Let's  go  and  see  what  they  do  now/'  suggested 
Rob. 

As  they  approached  they  saw  the  male  bird 
clumsily  flap  down  to  the  nest,  where  it  dropped 
the  fish.  The  hen  eagle  fell  upon  it  with  short, 
savage  screams  and  began  to  tear  it  apart.  They 
also  saw,  now  and  again  bobbing  above  the  rim 
of  the  nest,  the  heads  of  two  young  eagles. 

Rob  cast  a  critical  look  at  the  trunk  of  the 
tree.  "I  can  climb  that  tree,"  said  he,  at  last, 
"and  I  have  a  mind  to  turn  the  tables  on  that  old 
thief  up  there." 

He  pointed  to  the  male  eagle,  which  was  now 
flapping  in  short  circles  above  the  top  of  the 
tree,  uttering  hoarse  cries  of  anger. 

" You'd  better  look  out,"  said  John;  "old 
Mother  Eagle  will  pick  your  eyes  out  if  you're 
not  careful." 

"I'm  not  so  sure  about  that,"  said  Rob;  "but 

187 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

I'll  take  care.  Anyhow,  here  goes!"  So  saying, 
he  threw  off  his  coat  and  began  to  ascend  the 
tree,  a  feat  which  grew  easier  as  he  reached  the 
wide-spreading  limbs.  In  a  few  minutes  he  stood 
almost  under  the  nest.  Here  he  kept  his  left 
arm  in  front  of  his  face  and  made  feints  with  a 
piece  of  branch  at  the  mother  eagle,  which  indeed 
came  dangerously  close  to  him.  The  boys  below 
began  to  flop  their  arms  and  throw  up  their  coats. 
At  length  both  of  the  parent  birds,  contrary  to 
what  might  be  believed  or  may  have  been  written 
regarding  them,  turned  tail  like  cowards  and 
abandoned  their  young  to  their  fate.  They 
perched  on  trees  a  hundred  yards  or  so  distant, 
and  watched  to  see  what  would  go  forward.  Hob 
worked  his  way  on  up  the  tree  and  peered  curi 
ously  over  the  edge  of  the  wretched  brush-heap 
which  served  as  the  nest.  Here  he  saw  two  large, 
ungainly  young  birds,  not  yet  able  to  fly,  but  able 
to  spit,  scratch,  and  flap  their  wings.  Getting  a 
good  foothold  on  a  supporting  branch,  Rob  made 
several  attempts  to  get  hold  of  the  young  birds. 
Finally  he  succeeded  in  getting  one  by  the  neck, 
and  with  a  jerk  threw  it  out  so  that  it  fell  flapping 
to  the  ground.  Skookie  would  have  killed  it  at 
once,  but  the  others  stopped  him.  A  few  mo 
ments  later  they  were  owners  of  both  these  birds, 

188 


AMONG    THE    EAGLES 

and  Rob  had  rejoined  his  companions  at  the  foot 
of  the  tree. 

"I'll  tell  you  what/'  said  he,  as  he  wiped  the 
perspiration  from  his  face;  "let's  see  if  we  can't 
make  pets  of  these  eagles.  We  nearly  always 
have  more  than  we  can  eat,  and  it's  the  same  sort 
of  food  these  birds  are  used  to;  so  why  shouldn't 
we  tie  them  up  and  keep  them  around  the  hut? 
Maybe  they'll  scare  the  crows  and  ravens  away 
from  our  fish." 

"That's  a  fine  idea,"  said  John.  "We'll  just 
try  that.  I  had  a  couple  of  hawks  once  for  pets. 
They  ate  a  great  lot,  and  they  fought  you,  too, 
for  a  long  while.  My  hawks  used  to  lie  on  their 
backs  and  grab  me  by  the  hand  every  time  I  tried 
to  feed  them.  I  suppose  these  eagles  will  be 
worse  yet." 

"Anyhow,  we'll  try  them,"  said  Rob.  "Let's 
wrap  them  up  in  our  coats  and  take  them  down 
to  the  boat." 

This  they  did,  and  although  the  old  eagles  fol 
lowed  them  for  two  or  three  miles,  sometimes 
coming  rather  close,  and  frequently  uttering  their 
wild  calls  of  anger,  the  boys  had  no  trouble  in 
making  away  with  their  young  captives.  The 
birds  seemed  rather  stupid  than  otherwise,  and 
were  as  ready  to  eat  food  from  human  hands  as 

189 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

from  the  talons  of  their  parents.  They  did  not 
really  become  tame,  but,  having  learned  their 
source  of  food,  in  a  few  days  became  so  indifferent 
to  human  presence  that  they  would  only  ruffle 
up  their  scanty  crests  and  beat  their  wings  a  lit 
tle  when  approached.  They  never  allowed  one 
to  put  a  hand  on  their  heads,  and,  indeed,  were 
very  far  from  being  friendly.  Their  presence 
about  the  camp,  however,  did  serve  in  part  to 
mitigate  the  nuisance  of  crows  and  ravens,  which 
continually  hovered  about,  trying  to  steal  from 
the  scaffold  where  the  boys  kept  their  supplies  of 
meat  and  fish.  All  boys  like  pets,  and  these 
found  their  strange  captives  interesting  enough 
at  least  to  help  pass  the  time. 


XXIV 

AN  ADVENTURE  ON  THE  GULL  ROCKS 

I'LL  tell  you,  fellows,"  began  Rob,  a  day  or 
so  after  they  had  brought  home  the  young 
eagles — "I'll  tell  you  what  we  ought  to  do  to 
day  after  we  have  got  the  breakfast  dishes  done. 
Let's  make  a  trip  over  to  the  big  rocks  beyond, 
where  we  went  with  Jimmy  that  time.  If  the 
eggs  are  not  all  hatched,  and  if  these  birds  keep 
on  laying,  as  maybe  they  do,  we  might  still  get 
some  fresh  eggs." 

"That  would  be  fine,"  said  John,  "because  I 
for  one  am  getting  just  a  little  tired  of  salmon  all 
the  while.  I'd  give  anything  for  a  good  piece  of 
bread  and  butter." 

"Or  pie,"  said  Jesse,  his  mouth  almost  water 
ing. 

"Now,  there  you  go,"  said  Rob,  "talking  about 
things  we  can't  have.  Why,  I  wouldn't  give  a 
cent  for  a  piece  of  pie  myself — that  is,  not  unless 
it  was  a  piece  of  real  cherry  pie,  with  fresh  cherries, 

191 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

the  kind  we  used  to  get — "  All  three  boys  looked 
at  one  another  and  broke  out  laughing. 

"  Any  how,"  said  John,  "  may  be  we  can  make 
a  sort  of  pie  after  the  salmon-berries  get  ripe. 
At  least  we  could  if  we  had  a  little  flour  and  lard 
and  baking-powder  and  things— 

"And  if  we  knew  how/'  added  Jesse.  "It 
seems  to  me  the  best  thing  we  can  do,  the  way 
things  are,  is  to  go  egg-hunting  as  Rob  suggests." 

There  was  perhaps  more  wisdom  in  Rob's  plan 
than  any  one  of  the  boys  knew  at  first.  He  was 
old  and  wise  enough  to  know  that  the  best  way 
to  keep  them  all  from  homesickness  was  to  be 
busy  all  the  time.  This  discovery  is  not  new 
among  military  men,  or  those  who  lead  exploring 
parties,  although  it  was  one  which  Rob  thought 
out  for  himself;  so  now  he  went  on: 

"We'll  just  take  the  dory,"  he  said,  "and  slip 
down  the  coast  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  creek, 
and  so  on  beyond  the  rocks  where  Jimmy  and  we 
all  went  when  we  got  the  sea-parrot  hides.  There 
are  rocks  over  there,  tall  needles  with  straight 
sides,  that  have  got  thousands  of  birds  of  all 
sorts  on  them." 

"What  will  we  do  with  our  eagles?"  asked 
Jesse,  hesitating. 

"We  can  leave  them  plenty  of  food,  and  put  a 
192 


ADVENTURE  ON  THE  GULL  ROCKS 

few  boards  together  so  that  they  can  get  under 
in  case  the  crows  or  ravens  should  attack  them. 
They  will  get  along  all  right,  I  am  sure." 

"I'd  like  to  go  with  Skookie  in  the  bidarka," 
said  John,  but  Rob  shook  his  head. 

"No,  you  don't/'  he  said,  "you  go  in  the  dory 
with  the  rest  of  us.  That  boy  is  all  right,  but  he 
might  not  be  strong  enough  to  handle  a  bidarka 
in  a  high  sea;  and  up  here  we  never  can  tell  when 
the  wind  is  going  to  come  up." 

"Suppose  it  did  upset,"  said  John,  sturdily. 
"I  have  been  out  of  it,  here  in  the  lagoon." 

"Yes,  but  that  is  different  from  getting  upset 
out  there  in  the  middle  of  the  bay.  You  know  per 
fectly  well  that  you  could  not  get  back  in  again; 
and  swimming  out  there  is  something  different 
from  the  lagoon,  where  the  bank  is  right  at  hand 
all  the  time.  I  don't  even  like  to  go  very  far 
out  in  the  dory;  but  see,  it  is  fair  and  calm  just 
now.  So  hurry  up  and  let's  get  away.  Get  all 
the  rope  you  can,  too,  fellows,  because  we  may 
have  to  go  down  the  face  of  the  rock  to  get  at 
the  nests." 

"I  have  seen  pictures  of  that,"  said  Jesse — 

"how  the  egg-gatherers  go  down  in  a  rope  handled 

by  other  men  up  above  them  on  the  rocks.     Do 

you  suppose  that  three  of  us  could  pull  the  other 

193 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

fellow  up  and  down?  Skookie  here  looks  pretty 
strong/' 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Rob,  "but  we'll  take  the 
rope  along  and  see  how  it  works  out." 

Not  long  after  they  were  safely  off  in  the  big 
dory,  which,  under  two  pairs  of  oars  and  with 
the  wind  favorable,  astern,  made  very  good  time 
down  the  long  spit  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek. 
Beyond  that  point  they  were  obliged  to  take  to 
the  open  bay,  quite  out  of  touch  of  land,  for  a 
distance  of  a  mile  and  a  half.  This  brought 
them  to  the  foot  of  a  small,  rocky  island,  out  of 
which  arose  two  or  three  sharp,  column-like 
groups  of  rocks  which,  as  Rob  had  said,  were 
literally  covered  with  nesting  birds. 

"We'll  have  to  get  around  behind,"  said  Rob; 
"nobody  could  climb  up  on  this  side,  that's 
sure." 

Scrambling  over  the  loose  rocks,  left  wet  and 
slippery  by  the  tide,  they  passed  to  the  rear  of 
these  pillars,  first  having  made  fast  the  dory  so 
that  it  could  not  be  carried  away.  In  the  pools 
of  sea-water  they  found  many  strange  shells  and 
several  specimens  of  the  squid,  or  cuttle-fish,  upon 
which  Skookie  fell  gleefully.  He  and  his  people 
are  fond  of  this  creature  as  an  article  of  food; 
but  its  loathsome  look  turned  the  others  against 
194 


ADVENTURE  ON  THE  GULL  ROCKS 

it,  so  that  with  reluctance  he  was  forced  to  throw 
them  away  again. 

At  the  back  of  the  largest  of  these  rock  pin 
nacles  they  stood  in  hesitation  for  a  moment,  for 
the  ascent  seemed  hard  enough.  At  last,  how 
ever,  Rob  found  a  sort  of  cleft  or  large  crack, 
which  seemed  to  lead  up  toward  the  top,  and 
whose  rough  sides  seemed  to  give  foothold  suffi 
cient  for  a  bold  climber.  "Here  we  go,  fellows!" 
he  said,  and  so  started  on  up,  hand  over  hand, 
the  best  he  could.  To  their  satisfaction,  how 
ever,  they  found  the  going  not  so  hard  as  it  had 
looked  from  below.  At  the  top,  the  sides  of  the 
cleft  seemed  to  pinch  together,  so  that  in  some 
places  they  were  obliged  to  climb  as  a  chimney 
sweep  does,  their  legs  pressed  across  the  open 
space;  but  as  they  were  all  out-of-door  boys  and 
well  used  to  Alaska  mountain  work,  they  went 
ahead  fearlessly  and  soon  found  themselves  at 
the  summit  of  the  tower-like  rock,  whence  they 
had  a  splendid  view  of  the  bay  and  the  sur 
rounding  country.  Startled  by  their  presence,  the 
sea-birds  took  wing  in  hundreds  and  thousands, 
soaring  around  them,  flapping  almost  in  their 
faces,  and  uttering  wild,  discordant  cries.  The 
boys  fought  these  off  as  they  began  to  explore 
the  top  of  the  rock. 

195 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

" Mostly  little  gulls  here,"  said  John,  "and  I 
never  heard  they  were  good  to  eat.  I  don't  like 
the  look  of  these  eggs,  either.  Looks  as  if  we 
were  too  late  for  a  real  good  egg  season." 

"Well,"  said  Rob,  "anyhow,  we  have  had  a 
good  climb  and  a  good  look  over  the  country. 
Now,  what  I  propose  to  do  is  to  see  what  there 
is  lower  down  on  the  face  of  the  cliff.  I'm  sure 
there's  a  lot  of  sea-parrots  there,  because  I  can 
see  them  flying  in  and  out  down  below." 

"Let  me  go  down,  Rob,"  said  John.  "I'm 
lighter  than  you  are." 

"  No,"  said  Jesse,  "  I  think  I  ought  to  go 
down,  because  I  am  even  lighter  than  you, 
John,  and  Rob  is  stronger  than  either  of 


us." 


"I'll  tell  you  how  we'll  fix  that,"  said  Rob. 
"We'll  tie  the  end  of  the  rope  around  this  big 
rock  here,  and  I'll  pass  the  other  end  through 
my  belt  and  pay  it  out  as  I  climb  down.  I  won't 
need  to  put  all  my  weight  on  the  rope,  but  will 
just  use  it  to  steady  me  as  I  climb.  If  I  have 
any  trouble  getting  up,  why,  then  you  three  fel 
lows  can  see  what  you  can  do  toward  pulling. 
Don't  you  let  it  slip,  now.  And  if  I  shake  the 
rope  three  times,  then  you  begin  to  pull.  You 
can  signal  me  the  same  way  if  I  get  where  you 
190 


ADVENTURE  ON  THE  GULL  ROCKS 

can't  see  me,  or  where  you  can't  hear  me  call  for 
the  noise  the  birds  are  making." 

It  was  really  a  dangerous  thing  which  Rob  pro 
posed  to  do,  but  boys  do  not  always  stop  to  fig 
ure  about  danger  when  there  is  something  in 
teresting  ahead.  Passing  the  rope  through  his 
belt  as  he  had  said,  he  kept  hold  of  the  free  end 
with  one  hand,  and  so,  picking  his  way  from  one 
projecting  point  to  another,  he  began  slowly  to 
pass  down  the  seaward  face  of  the  rock,  which 
proved  to  be  not  so  steep  as  it  had  seemed  from 
below,  although  ridged  here  and  there  with  sharp 
walls  or  cut  banks,  which  crossed  from  almost  one 
face  of  the  pinnacle  to  the  other. 

Rob's  daring  was  rewarded  by  the  finding  of 
countless  numbers  of  nests  of  the  sea-parrots, 
which  were  bored  back  straight  into  the  face  of 
the  cleft.  "Here  they  are,  boys!"  he  called  back, 
his  voice  being  even  by  this  time  barely  distin 
guishable  amid  the  clamor  of  the  gulls  and  other 
wild  birds  which  continuously  circled  about. 

Rob  thrust  his  arm  into  one  of  these  holes  in 
the  cleft,  and  was  lucky  enough  to  catch  a  female 
parrot  by  the  neck  and  to  pull  her  out  without 
any  injury  to  himself.  For  a  time  he  examined 
the  bird,  laughing  at  its  awkward  movements 
when  he  flung  it  on  the  rocks  at  last,  uninjured. 
197 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

Then  he  edged  on  along  the  rock  face,  his  foot 
on  a  sort  of  narrow  shelf  and  his  body  guided  by 
the  supporting  rope.  "I  can  get  a  lot  of  them 
here!"  he  called  up  to  his  friends. 

A  moment  later  he  pushed  his  arm  again  into 
an  aperture  among  these  nests.  At  once  he  ut 
tered  a  sudden,  sharp  cry  and  pulled  out  his  arm. 
His  finger  had  been  bitten  almost  to  the  bone  by 
the  hornlike  beak  of  one  of  the  birds.  The  pain 
of  this  alone  would  have  been  bad  enough,  but 
now  it  caused  a  still  more  serious  accident. 

As  Rob  shook  his  bleeding  finger  at  his  side, 
and  half  raised  his  left  arm  to  fend  off  the  rush 
of  two  or  three  angry  wild  birds,  he  suddenly 
slipped  with  one  foot  at  the  edge  of  the  narrow 
shelf  on  which  he  stood,  and  before  he  could 
catch  his  balance  or  do  more  than  tightly  grasp 
the  free  end  of  the  rope  which  passed  under  his 
belt,  over  and  down  he  went. 

For  one  swift  instant  he  saw  the  long,  white, 
curling  breakers  on  the  beach  below  him,  for  he 
fell  face  downward,  his  body  or  feet  scarcely 
touching  the  rocky  wall.  He  never  knew  quite 
how  it  happened,  but  in  some  way  the  rope 
jammed  at  his  belt,  and  before  he  had  fallen  more 
than  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  he  found  himself  fast, 
but  swinging  like  a  plummet  at  the  end  of  the 

198 


ADVENTURE  ON  THE  GULL  ROCKS 

line,  entirely  out  of  touch,  with  either  hands  or 
feet,  with  the  face  of  the  rocky  wall.  Below  him 
he  could  faintly  hear  the  murmur  of  the  sea  on 
the  rocks  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  below.  Above 
him  he  could  see  nothing  but  the  edge  of  the 
shelf  over  which  he  had  fallen.  As  soon  as  he 
could  control  himself,  he  called  aloud  again  and 
again,  but  he  got  no  answer.  If  his  friends  above 
heard  him,  their  answer  was  drowned  by  the 
clamor  of  the  wild  birds.  Here,  then,  was  the 
most  serious  situation  in  which  he  had  ever  found 
himself  in  all  his  life. 

Up  above,  on  the  summit-of  the  rock,  the  boys 
had  seen  the  sudden  jerk  on  the  rope  and  noticed 
that  now  it  was  motionless,  whereas  before  it 
had  trembled  and  shifted  as  Rob  moved  along  the 
shelf.  Skookie  was  the  first  to  divine  what  had 
happened.  He  pointed  to  the  cord,  now  tense 
and  stiff,  and  leaned  out  over  the  rim,  peering 
down  at  the  shelf  where  Rob  had  stood. 

"Him  gone!"  said  he,  turning  back  a  sober 
face.  ''Pretty  soon  him  die  now,  I  guess." 

Jesse  and  John  looked  at  each  other  with 
white  faces.  They  sprang  to  the  rope,  but  hes 
itated,  fearing  lest  touching  it  might  prove  dan 
gerous. 

"Wait,"  said  Jesse.  " Let's  look  around  first 
14  199 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

and  get  our  wits  together.  One  thing  is  certain, 
he  is  down  there  at  the  end  of  this.  If  the  rope 
was  not  fast  to  him  it  would  be  loose  and  we  could 
pull  it  up.  That  means  that  he  is  alive  yet,  any 
how,  I  am  sure."  He  leaned  far  out  over  the 
rim  of  the  summit,  and  between  his  hollowed 
hands  called  down:  "Don't  be  afraid,  Rob!  We'll 
pull  you  up  pretty  soon!" 

Dangling  far  down  at  the  end  of  the  rope,  Rob 
at  first  grew  faint  and  dizzy.  He  dared  not  look 
below  him,  but  had  presence  of  mind  enough  to 
keep  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  nearest  part  of  the  cap 
of  the  rocky  wall,  so  that  he  was  less  dizzy,  al 
though  he  whirled  round  and  about  at  the  ex 
tremity  of  the  rope,  which  it  seemed  to  him  would 
almost  cut  him  in  two.  None  the  less  he  made 
the  end  all  the  more  secure  about  his  waist;  then 
once  in  a  while  he  would  ease  the  strain  by  lifting 
a  little  with  a  hand  above  his  head.  He  shifted 
the  rope  until  the  noose  came  closer  under  his 
arms,  realizing  that  he  must  not  exhaust  his 
strength  in  trying  to  raise  his  weight  hand  over 
hand.  Thus,  after  the  first  few  minutes  of  fright 
and  after  he  had  dared  to  open  his  eyes  and  take 
stock  of  the  dangerous  plight  in  which  he  found 
himself,  he  began  calmly  to  reason,  as  very  often 
one  will  who  finds  himself  in  imminent  peril,  the 

200 


ADVENTURE  ON  THE  GULL  ROCKS 

situation  being  too  serious  to  allow  him  time  for 
fright. 

Skookie  sat  down  apathetically  on  the  rocks 
and  made  no  move.  "Get  up  there,  Skookie!" 
said  Jesse.  "Why  do  you  act  like  a  dummy? 
Nobody  is  dead  yet.  We're  going  to  haul  him 
up;  don't  you  see?  Now  get  hold  of  the  rope — 
all  of  us;  now,  all  together!" 

They  lifted  as  hard  as  they  could,  but,  do  their 
best,  they  could  gain  almost  nothing  on  the  rope. 
Little  as  that  was,  Rob  felt  it  down  below  and 
knew  that  they  were  trying  to  save  him. 

"Now  what  shall  we  do?"  John  asked  Jesse, 
in  distress.  "If  we  can't  pull  him  up — and  may 
be  we'd  cut  the  rope  on  the  rocks  trying  to  do 
that — why,  then,  how  is  he  going  to  get  out  of 
that?" 

Skookie,  seeing  that  they  had  but  little  suc 
cess  in  lifting  the  heavy  weight  at  the  other 
end  of  the  rope,  now,  without  any  orders,  tried  a 
plan  of  his  own.  Passing  along  the  edge  of  the 
rim  of  rock  off  to  the  right,  he  found  a  place 
where  he  could  descend  for  at  least  a  short  dis 
tance.  He  disappeared  below,  but  presently  came 
back,  his  face  lighted  up  with  the  first  sign  of  hope 
it  had  shown. 

"Dis  way!"  he  said;    "dis  way!"  and  made 

201 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

motions  that  they  should  pull  on  the  rope  and 
shift  it  to  the  right  as  far  as  they  were  able. 
The  young  native's  sharp  eyes  had  seen  that  if 
Rob  could  get  to  a  place  a  little  farther  at  one 
side  than  where  he  hung,  he  could  get  his  feet 
against  the  rock,  and  so,  perhaps,  help  himself 
more  than  otherwise  would  be  possible. 

A  little  consultation  followed  at  the  top  of  the 
rock,  then  inch  by  inch  the  boys  edged  the  rope 
along.  Rob  found  himself,  without  any  effort  of 
his  own,  gradually  approaching  the  face  of  the 
rock.  At  last  he  could  kick  it;  and  so  he  helped 
himself,  pendulum  fashion,  until  finally  he  got  a 
hand  on  a  rocky  point,  and  so  could  rest  his  weight 
on  the  rough  surface.  To  him  even  this  vantage- 
ground  seemed  as  if  it  were  actual  safety,  so  much 
better  was  it  than  swinging  helpless  like  a  fly  on 
a  cord.  When  his  weight  was  taken  from  the 
rope  those  above  at  first  thought  that  he  had 
fallen  to  the  foot  of  the  cliff;  but  now  he  gave 
the  signal  of  three  short  jerks,  and  they  saw 
that  he  must  have  reached  some  place  where 
he  could  support  his  weight.  At  this  they  broke 
out  into  a  shout  of  joy. 

"Now,  what  will  we  do?"  asked  Jesse,  thought 
fully.  "We  won't  pull  up  until  he  signals  us 
again,  I  guess.  Maybe  he  will  try  to  come  up 
202 


ADVENTURE  ON  THE  GULL  ROCKS 

himself,  steadying  himself  by  the  rope,  the  way 
he  went  down.  I  wish  we  could  see  where  he  is." 

This  chance  counsel  of  Jesse's  was  precisely 
the  best  thing  that  could  have  happened,  for  Rob 
had  now  determined  to  help  himself  by  climbing 
up  the  rope  hand  over  hand  in  the  attempt  to 
reach  the  ledge  from  which  he  had  fallen.  How 
he  was  going  to  get  over  the  edge  he  could  not 
clearly  see,  but  he  was  now  convinced  that  the 
friction  on  the  rope  was  such  that  his  friends 
could  not  haul  him  up,  and  that  if  he  were  saved 
he  must  save  himself  by  getting  above  that  pro 
jecting  edge. 

Slowly  he  began  to  feel  his  way  up  the  rock, 
supporting  his  weight  as  much  as  possible  with 
out  the  use  of  the  rope,  until,  half  leaning  against 
the  rock  and  half  pulling  on  the  rope,  which  was 
now  shifted  to  a  point  directly  above  his  head, 
he  reached  a  place  where  he  could  no  longer  keep 
in  touch  with  the  rocky  face.  Then  bravely,  as 
should  any  one  who  finds  himself  in  such  straits, 
he  swung  out  and  rapidly  began  to  climb  up  the 
rope,  hand  over  hand,  sailor  fashion. 

He  reached  the  edge  of  the  rock,  and  perhaps 
might  have  been  able  in  some  way  to  get  above 
it  without  injury,  although,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  might  never  have  been  able  to  get  across 

203 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

unaided.  What  happened  was  that  the  boys 
up  above,  seeing  the  rope  again  agitated  and 
not  certain  what  their  best  course  now  might 
be,  laid  hold  of  it  and  began  to  pull  as  hard  as 
they  could.  The  result  was  that  Rob's  left  hand, 
just  as  he  reached  the  rim  of  rock,  was  caught 
under  the  rope.  He  flung  his  other  hand  around 
the  corner,  caught  the  rope,  and  scrambled  up 
on  one  knee  just  as  the  strong  heave  from  above 
tore  the  rope  almost  through  his  ringers,  cutting 
them  open  as  they  lay  against  the  rocks. 

The  pain  was  intense,  but  he  hardly  minded 
that,  for  he  saw  now  that  he  was  again  in  safety. 
From  there  on  up  the  face  of  the  rock  he  scram 
bled  on  hands  and  knees,  slipping  and  falling,  but 
still  going  up,  assisted  by  the  steady  pull,  hand 
over  hand,  of  his  friends,  who  now  saw  what  had 
happened,  and  who  encouraged  him  with  their 
shouts.  So,  none  of  them  knew  just  how,  pres 
ently  he  found  himself  at  the  summit  once  more, 
the  others  about  him,  all  talking  at  once. 

Rob  held  up  his  mangled  hand,  from  which  the 
blood  was  now  flowing  freely.  The  wounds  to 
his  fingers  were  really  serious,  but  he  bore  the 
pain  as  bravely  as  he  could,  although  his  face 
was  white. 

"Anyhow,  I  got  back/'  said  he,  shaking  the 

204 


ADVENTURE  ON  THE  GULL  ROCKS 

blood  from  his  hand.  "I  think  the  best  thing 
we  can  do  now  is  to  start  on  home.  I  ought  to 
do  something  for  this  hand  as  soon  as  possible." 

They  were  all  pale  and  very  much  frightened. 
All  at  once  Rob  began  to  tremble,  his  hands  and 
legs  shaking  uncontrollably.  The  nervous  strain 
having  now  relaxed,  the  full  shock  of  terror  and 
pain  set  in,  as  often  is  seen  in  the  cases  of  grown 
men  similarly  situated.  It  was  some  time  before 
he  recovered  sufficiently  to  be  able  to  risk  the 
dangerous  climb  down  the  cliff  on  the  inner  side 
of  the  pinnacle.  At  last,  however,  they  found 
themselves  again  safely  in  the  dory,  where,  of 
course,  his  companions  would  not  allow  him  to 
think  of  rowing.  Progress  against  the  wind  and 
sea  they  found  now  much  slower,  and  it  was  al 
most  an  hour  before  they  reached  the  mouth  of 
the  creek,  where  Rob  could  land  on  the  beach  and 
so  walk  up  toward  the  hut.  By  that  time  his 
hand  was  badly  swollen  and  giving  him  intense 
pain. 

The  boys  did  not  attempt  to  take  the  dory 
around  to  the  landing  opposite  to  the  hut,  but 
left  it  moored  at  the  creek  mouth.  They  did 
not  talk  a  great  deal  as  they  returned  to  the 
barabbara  at  the  close  of  their  disastrous  day. 
The  pain  which  Rob  suffered  gave  them  all  con- 
205 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

cern.  It  was  Skookie  once  more  who  proved  him 
self  resourceful.  Without  asking  leave  of  any 
one,  he  crossed  the  lagoon  on  the  stepping-stones 
and  disappeared  in  the  thicket  beyond.  A  few 
minutes  later  he  appeared  with  his  hands  full  of 
coarse  green  leaves  with  slender,  lance-shaped 
tips,  the  name  of  which  none  of  the  boys  ever 
knew. 

"Karosha,"  he  said — "all  right,  all  right,"  and 
so  proceeded  to  bind  these  on  Rob's  wounded 
fingers.  Having  wrapped  them  in  a  number  of 
the  leaves,  he  led  Rob  to  the  edge  of  the  creek, 
and  here  made  up  a  big  ball  of  mud,  which  he 
plastered  over  the  entire  hand. 

"Now  I  am  a  pretty  sight,"  said  Rob.  "I 
was  going  to  wash  my  hands,  but  maybe  this  will 
do.  I  have  heard  that  natives  sometimes  know 
a  thing  or  two  about  taking  care  of  such  things." 

The  native  lad's  knowledge  of  simples  proved 
more  efficient  than  any  of  them  had  dreamed.  In 
the  course  of  half  an  hour  Rob's  face  brightened. 
"Why,"  said  he,  "I  don't  believe  it  hurts  so  bad 
ly  now.  Skookie,  you  are  a  great  little  doctor." 
And,  indeed,  that  night  he  slept  as  soundly  as 
any,  although  they  all  spent  less  time  than  usual 
that  evening  in  talk  about  the  doings  of  the  day. 


XXV 

CRIPPLES*   CASTLE 

"TTTELL,"  said  Jesse,  just  before  noon  of  the 

T  T  following  day,  as  he  stooped  to  enter  the 
door  of  the  barabbara,  "  accidents  never  come 
singly."  His  face  was  drawn  with  pain,  as  Rob, 
to  whom  he  spoke,  noticed. 

"What's  up,  Jess?"  asked  Rob.  "Has  any 
thing  happened?" 

"I  struck  my  foot  against  an  old  nail  or  some 
thing  of  the  sort,"  answered  Jesse.  "A  piece  of 
an  old  klipsie  was  lying  out  in  the  grass,  and  it 
has  cut  through  my  shoe  and  gone  into  my  foot." 

Rob  sat  up  on  the  blanket  where  he  had  been 
nursing  his  own  crippled  hand.  "An  old  nail!" 
he  said.  "Lucky  if  it  wasn't  worse!  No  telling 
what  the  point  of  it  might  do  toward  poisoning 
the  wound.  I'll  tell  you  right  now  that  I  don't 
want  even  any  rusty  nails  around  my  feet,  let 
alone  the  irons  of  an  old  fox  trap." 

"I've  heard  of  such  things  as  lockjaw,"  said 
207 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

Jesse.  "  There  was  a  boy  in  our  town  had  it,  and 
he  was  just  walking  along  and  struck  his  foot 
against  an  old  nail  in  a  shingle."  His  face 
seemed  grave. 

"Now,  don't  go  to  talking  about  that,"  said 
Rob.  "When  a  fellow  gets  scared  of  anything 
is  when  he  catches  it.  They  say  that  if  a  man 
goes  to  Africa  and  expects  to  come  down  with  a 
fever  he  always  does,  and  if  he  doesn't  think  any 
thing  about  it  he  probably  gets  along  all  right. 
Now,  let's  have  a  look  at  your  foot.  Take  off  your 
shoe;  and  put  the  kettle  on  the  fire,  so  that  we  can 
get  some  warm  water.  The  first  thing  always  is 
to  keep  a  cut  clean;  and  I  have  read,  too,  that 
where  there  is  any  rusty  nail  or  toy  pistol  around 
the  best  thing  is  to  keep  a  wound  open." 

"That  doesn't  seem  to  be  the  way  you  are 
treating  your  fingers,"  said  Jesse,  looking  at  the 
cloth  in  which  Rob  still  kept  a  big  poultice  of 
black  mud. 

"Well,  a  poultice  draws  poison  out  of  a  wound, 
you  see,"  said  Rob,  "and  mud  is  good  for  that. 
We  had  a  pointer  dog  once,  and  he  came  home 
with  his  face  all  swelled  up,  and  my  father  said  he 
had  been  bitten  by  a  snake.  We  didn't  know  what 
to  do,  but  the  dog  did;  he  wouldn't  let  any  one 
touch  him,  but  went  off  to  a  slough  back  of  the 
208 


CRIPPLES'    CASTLE 

house  and  lay  down  in  the  mud,  and  he  kept  his 
head  in  the  mud  for  two  or  three  days.  He  got 
well  all  right.  Your  foot  cannot  be  any  worse 
than  if  you  had  been  snake-bitten,  surely,  and 
you  and  I  ought  to  have  as  much  sense  as  the  dog. 
My  hand  does  not  hurt  now,  and  I'll  warrant 
Skookie  and  I  will  fix  up  your  foot  in  a  jiffy." 

He  put  his  head  out  of  the  door  and  called  for 
John  and  Skookie,  both  of  whom  presently  came, 
the  latter  soon  returning  with  a  double  handful 
of  mud,  for  which  Rob  had  asked.  Meantime 
they  had  taken  off  Jesse's  shoe  and  stocking, 
cleaned  the  wound,  and  Rob  had  cut  it  open  even 
a  little  wider  with  his  knife — at  which  Jesse  made 
a  wry  face. 

"I  hate  to  do  it,  Jess,"  said  Rob,  "but  that  is 
what  I  read  doctors  do  in  a  case  like  this.  Now 
for  a  good  poultice.  You  will  be  all  right  in  a 
day  or  so." 

In  truth,  they  very  probably  did  the  very  best 
that  could  be  done  in  such  circumstances.  There 
might  have  been  serious  trouble  from  a  wound 
from  an  old  klipsie  barb.  Surgeons  have  died 
from  poison  received  from  knives  used  in  post 
mortem  work.  Lockjaw  might  very  well  follow 
upon  a  wound  from  a  piece  of  dirty  iron  of  this 
kind;  but,  luckily,  the  germ  of  that  disease 

209 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

seemed  not  to  exist  in  this  case;  at  least  the 
treatment  which  Rob  applied  proved  quite  effec 
tive  and  no  evil  results  followed.  Although  Jesse 
limped  for  a  time,  in  a  few  days  he  became  quite 
well,  and  the  swelling  in  the  foot  amounted  to 
very  little. 

"But  now,"  said  John  one  morning,  as  the 
three  of  them  sat  by  the  fireside  in  the  barab- 
bara,  "we  are  a  fine-looking  lot,  aren't  we?  Just 
look  as  us — every  one  of  us  has  got  something 
the  matter  with  him!"  They  all  took  a  glance 
and  broke  out  in  a  loud  laugh  together,  in  which 
Skookie  joined  uproariously.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  each  one  of  them  was  wearing  a  bandage. 
Rob  had  his  hand  done  up,  Jesse's  foot  was  en 
cased  in  a  mud  plaster,  and  John  still  wore  his 
handkerchief  tied  over  his  nose,  whose  tip  he  had 
nearly  severed  in  his  attempt  at  eating  after  the 
Aleut  fashion. 

"Well,"  said  Rob,  "it's  lucky  that  none  of  us 
is  hurt  bad  enough  to  cripple  him  seriously,  any 
way;  although  I  guess  Skookie  will  have  to  do 
most  of  the  work  of  getting  wood  and  water  for 
a  day  or  so  yet." 

"There's  no  reason  why  I  could  not  carry  wood 
and  water,"  said  John.  "My  nose  is  not  in  the 
road." 

210 


CRIPPLES'   CASTLE 

"  I  shouldn't  say  it  was,"  said  Jesse.  "  It  never 
was  long  enough  to  get  in  the  road,  John,  and  it 
seems  as  though  you  had  tried  your  best  to 
shorten  it  as  it  was."  They  never  tired  of  laugh 
ing  at  John  for  his  clumsiness  in  Aleut  table 
manners. 

"Now,  see  here,  Jess/'  said  John,  "if  you  keep 
on  making  fun  of  my  nose  I  won't  give  you  any 
more  mud  for  your  old  foot.  I'm  the  only  one 
that  is  not  taking  the  mud  cure  excepting  Skookie. 
I  might  just  advise  you  two  that  about  all  our 
salt  whale  meat  is  gone,  and  it  is  too  late  now 
to  get  any  more.  It  is  about  time  we  did  some 
fishing,  it  seems  to  me." 

"Well,  I  don't  want  to  sit  around  this  way  all 
the  time,"  said  Jesse.  "  I  am  for  going  out  in  the 
dory  and  trying  for  some  fresh  codfish.  I'm 
rather  tired  of  salmon  again." 

"That's  right,"  said  Rob.  "I  was  just  going 
to  say  the  same  thing.  Back  home  we  used  to 
like  salmon  better  than  codfish,  because  the  cod 
fish  was  always  salt.  Salmon  used  to  be  forty 
cents  a  pound  back  in  the  States,  but  out  here, 
where  we  can  catch  forty  pounds  in  an  hour,  we 
don't  like  it  as  well  as  codfish.  All  right,  Jess, 
I'm  game  to  go  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  creek 
where  we  left  the  dory,  and  go  out  in  the  bay  for 
211 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

a  try  after  cod.  But  how  will  you  get  down  there 
with  your  foot  all  tied  up?" 

Jesse  put  his  hand  on  Skookie's  shoulder. 
"Oh,  that  will  be  easy/'  said  he.  "Skookie 
and  I  will  go  down  the  creek  in  the  bi 
darka." 

They  agreed  to  this  plan,  and  Jesse,  hobbling 
out  to  the  edge  of  the  lagoon,  picked  up  one  of  the 
bidarka's  paddles — a  narrow-bladed,  pointed  im 
plement  such  as  the  Aleuts  always  use — rested  the 
end  of  the  paddle  on  the  bottom  on  the  other  side 
of  the  bidarka,  and,  steadying  himself  by  this 
means,  slipped  into  place  in  the  front  hatch  of  the 
boat,  just  as  one  would  step  into  a  tottery  birch- 
bark,  although  not  even  the  latter  can  be  more 
ticklish  than  one  of  these  skin-covered  native 
boats.  Skookie  was  less  particular,  but,  with  the 
confidence  born  of  long  experience,  took  a  run 
ning  jump  as  he  pushed  off  the  bidarka  and 
scrambled  into  the  rear  hatch.  An  instant  later 
his  own  paddle  was  in  motion,  and  Jesse  and  he 
made  good  speed  down  the  creek.  All  the  boys 
had  by  this  time  learned  something  about  the  use 
of  the  bidarka,  and  could  handle  themselves  fairly 
well  without  swinging  the  craft  from  side  to  side 
as  they  paddled.  Jesse  always  thought  that  the 
paddles  were  too  small,  but  the  only  answer 
212 


CRIPPLES'    CASTLE 

Skookie  made  to  this  criticism  was,  "My  peoples 
long  time  make  paddles  dis  way." 

The  four  met  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek,  and 
soon  they  launched  the  faithful  dory,  in  which 
they  always  kept  their  cod-lines  on  the  hand-reels 
under  the  stern  seat.  Skookie  took  command  of 
the  expedition,  for  he  seemed  to  know  instinctive 
ly  where  the  best  fish  could  be  found.  Under  his 
instruction  he  and  John  paddled  the  boat  out 
fifty  fathoms  or  so  from  the  extreme  beach  point, 
where  he  motioned  John  to  take  up  his  hand-line 
while  he  held  the  boat  in  place.  "Plenty  deep 
waters  here,"  he  said;  "plenty  dose  codfish." 

"Sure!"  said  John.  "Here's  right  where  Jim 
my  took  us  the  first  time." 

The  boys  threw  over  their  lines,  letting  the 
heavy  leads  of  the  big  hooks  sink  into  more  than 
one  hundred  feet  of  water.  They  had  not  long 
to  wait,  for  the  codfish  seemed  to  be  extremely 
numerous  hereabout.  John  gave  a  sudden  jerk 
and  began  to  pull  in  rapidly,  hand  over  hand. 
After  a  time  they  could  see  the  gleam  of  a  ten- 
pound  codfish  coming  up  to  the  surface  on  the 
line,  rolling  and  twisting  lazily  and  making  no 
great  fight.  With  a  whoop  John  threw  him  into 
the  boat,  where  the  fish  seemed  even  too  lazy  to 
flap  about  very  much.  It  was  a  fine,  dark  fish, 

213 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

and  Skookie  gave  it  his  professional  approval  as 
he  rapped  it  over  the  head.  Hardly  had  John 
gotten  his  fish  into  the  boat  before  Jesse  also 
began  to  pull  in  and  added  a  second  prize.  Rob 
was  fishing  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  boat,  and 
using  a  sort  of  squid  with  lead  run  around  the 
hook,  much  like  a  bluefish  squid.  He  was  pull 
ing  the  bait  up  and  down  with  long  jerks,  as  the 
native  codfishers  do,  when  all  at  once  he  felt  some 
thing  strike.  "This  fish  seems  mighty  heavy," 
said  he,  "and  it  runs  around  different  from  a  cod." 
None  the  less,  he  kept  on  pulling  in  line,  and  at 
length  saw  the  gleam  of  a  fish.  "Humph!"  said 
he,  "no  wonder  it  pulls  hard!  I've  hooked  it 
right  square  in  the  side.  It  pulls  harder  than  a 
foul-hooked  salmon,  down  that  deep  in  the  water. 
I  wonder  what  it  is?" 

It  was  a  flat,  shiny  fish,  handsome  enough  to 
look  at,  but  Skookie  shook  his  head.  "Him  no 
good,"  said  he,  and  at  once  threw  it  overboard. 

"I  think  that  is  what  the  sailormen  call  a  silver 
hake,"  said  Rob;  "but  if  Skookie  doesn't  approve 
of  it,  I  guess  we  won't  take  any  chances." 

The  fish  kept  on  biting  at  Rob's  peculiar  lure 
and  at  the  pieces  of  salmon  which  the  other  boys 
used  as  bait.  In  the  course  of  an  hour  they  had 
the  bow  end  of  the  dory  well  piled  up  with  cod- 

214 


CRIPPLES'    CASTLE 

fish,  and  Rob  declared  that  they  had  enough. 
They  also  had  nearly  a  dozen  gnarled,  knobby- 
looking  fish,  mostly  all  head,  which  Skookie  in 
sisted  were  better  than  codfish,  to  which  they 
later  all  agreed.  Sailors  call  these  fish  "sea-law 
yers,"  because  of  their  wide  mouths,  as  they  ex 
plain  it.  They  rowed  in  to  the  beach  near  the 
mouth  of  the  creek  and  dressed  their  fish  on  the 
shore  not  far  from  the  salmon  pool.  After  this 
they  lay  about  in  the  sunshine  of  a  beautiful  day 
and  idled  away  an  hour  or  two  more. 

"I'll  tell  you  what,  fellows,"  said  John,  after 
a  time,  as  he  stopped  throwing  pebbles  into  the 
pool,  "we  ought  to  have  some  sort  of  a  camp  down 
here  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek,  too.  Look  over 
there  at  that  rock  face  on  the  other  side  of  the 
creek;  that  would  be  a  fine  place  to  build  an 
other  house.  I  think  it  would  be  fun." 

"But  look  at  us,  all  crippled  up  as  we  are," 
said  Rob.  "We  never  were  in  as  bad  shape  to 
go  to  work." 

"Oh,  well,"  demurred  Jesse,  "we  wouldn't 
have  to  do  it  all  in  one  day.  I  think,  too,  it 
would  be  some  fun  to  build  a  barabbara  all  of 


our  own." 


"I  suppose  we  could  float  some  logs  down  the 
creek,"  said  Rob,  "and  maybe  pick  up  some  drift 
's  215 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

wood  on  the  beach  and  tow  it  around  with  the 
dory.  And  there's  some  drift  right  here  at  the 
mouth  of  our  creek.  We  could  build  it  over 
there  just  back  of  those  scrubby  trees,  and  with 
the  cover  of  those  and  the  tall  grass  no  one  could 
see  it  from  the  water  unless  he  looked  mighty 
close.  And,  as  John  says,  it  might  save  us  a  walk 
once  in  a  while." 

"If  that  wasn't  a  rock  wall  over  there,"  said 
Jesse,  "we  could  make  a  dugout;  but  there  isn't 
any  cave  or  opening  in  the  rock  there." 

"No,"  said  Rob,  "and  we  can't  build  a  bark 
house  like  a  Chippewa,  nor  a  mat  house  like  a 
Siwash,  nor  a  tepee  like  a  Sioux.  On  the  whole, 
I  have  noticed  that  every  country  knows  how  to 
build  its  own  houses  best.  The  natives  here 
make  barabbaras  because  they  have  material  for 
that  sort  of  house,  and  they  seem  to  do  pretty 
well,  if  they  do  smoke  a  little." 

"Suppose  we  build  a  barabbara,  then/'  suggest 
ed  Jesse. 

"Ask  Skookie,"  suggested  Rob. 

But  Skookie,  although  he  knew  perfectly  well 
what  they  were  talking  about,  did  not  grow  very 
enthusiastic  over  the  idea.  He  could  see  no  use 
in  doing  any  work  which  was  not  absolutely  nec 
essary.  "S'pose  got  plenty  barabbara  now,  all 

216 


CRIPPLES'   CASTLE 

light/'  he  said,  pointing  up  the  creek  at  their 
camp.  The  others,  however,  overruled  him,  and 
when  he  saw  his  companions  at  work  he  fell  to 
as  enthusiastically  as  any,  and  they  found  his 
suggestions  of  the  greatest  value. 

At  first  they  marked  out  a  place  about  twelve 
feet  square  or  so  on  the  ground,  and  cleared  it  of 
grass,  rocks,  and  pebbles.  To  this  they  dragged 
some  of  the  drift  logs  which  they  found  near  by, 
and  so  began  a  rough  sort  of  foundation.  They 
had  no  nails  which  they  could  spare  and  not  even 
a  hammer,  but  the  axe  they  found  very  useful 
in  shaping  the  ends  of  the  logs  so  that  they  would 
stay  in  place.  They  drove  stakes  to  hold  the 
corners  together  better  and  to  keep  the  walls 
from  falling  down;  and  between  the  logs  they 
put  in  chinking  of  moss,  grass,  and  mud.  Even 
before  the  end  of  their  first  day  they  had  quite  a 
start  on  their  new  house,  and  were  eager  for  the 
next  day's  work,  sore  and  crippled  as  they  were. 

On  the  following  day  they  made  house-building 
their  first  order.  By  noon  they  had  their  side 
walls  fairly  well  laid  up  with  logs,  which  now  gave 
them  some  trouble  to  hoist  and  to  keep  in  place. 
They  towed  drift-wood  now  into  the  creek,  having 
used  up  most  of  the  material  which  lay  close  at 

hand. 

217 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

The  roof  gave  them  the  most  trouble.  They 
built  their  side  walls  about  four  feet  high,  but 
they  did  not  know  how  to  keep  the  roof  from 
falling  in.  They  did  not  wish  to  plant  any  poles 
in  the  centre  of  the  barabbara,  as  that  would  take 
up  too  much  room  and  would  interfere  with  the 
fireplace.  They  had  no  means  of  joining  or  fram 
ing  any  timbers  for  the  roof,  and  they  did  not 
know  how  to  make  an  arch.  At  last  Jesse  hit 
upon  an  idea. 

'Til  tell  you,"  said  he;  " we'll  get  some  long 
poles  and  rest  them  on  the  top  of  the  walls  and 
plant  the  ends  in  the  dirt  and  weight  them  down 
with  rocks  there.  Then  the  other  ends  will  stick 
in  over  the  walls  toward  the  centre,  and  will  do 
for  rafters  for  us  to  put  our  roof  on.  We'll  leave 
a  hole  in  the  centre  where  the  rafters  don't  meet. 
In  that  way  we  can  have  a  roof  without  any  posts 
in  the  middle  of  our  house,  so  that  the  inside  will 
all  be  clear  room." 

This  crude  idea  of  architecture  appealed  to  the 
others  and,  indeed,  proved  rather  effective,  al 
though  it  was  different  from  the  plan  on  which 
their  old  barabbara  was  built.  They  had  some 
trouble  in  getting  poles  sufficiently  long,  but  at 
last  succeeded.  On  these  they  laid  such  flat 
ter  pieces  as  they  could  find  in  the  drift-wood 
218 


CRIPPLES'  CASTLE 

wreckage,  piecing  out  the  roof  with  poles  and 
covering  it  all  with  grass  and  moss.  Over  this 
they  put  yet  other  timbers,  and  stones,  and  fin 
ished  all  with  a  heavy  cover  of  dirt.  This  labor 
occupied  them  all  that  day  and  nearly  three  days 
more,  as  neither  Rob  nor  Jesse  was  in  very  good 
condition  to  do  much  work.  At  last,  however, 
they  saw  their  new  barabbara  completed.  It 
could  hardly  be  seen  from  the  opposite  side  of 
the  creek,  and  any  one  passing  the  mouth  of  the 
creek  on  the  bay  would  never  have  detected  it 
at  all. 

Tired  by  their  labors,  they  lay  down  on  the 
grass  in  front  and  looked  at  their  structure.  "  I'll 
tell  you,"  said  John,  rubbing  his  dirty  hands  over 
his  face  to  wipe  the  perspiration  from  his  eyes; 
" we'll  call  this  'Cripples'  Castle/  I  don't  think 
it's  bad  for  the  time  we  have  put  in;  when  there 
wasn't  one  of  us  feeling  very  well.  But  Rob's 
hand  is  pretty  near  well  now,  and  Jesse's  foot  is 
getting  better,  and  my  nose  is  not  going  to  come 
off,  after  all.  We'll  call  it  'Cripples'  Castle/ 
but  hope  that  our  luck  will  be  better  in  it." 

"Come  on,  let's  go  inside,"  said  Jesse.  So  they 
crawled  into  the  ragged  hole  in  the  wall  which 
they  had  left  for  a  door.  They  found  the  in 
terior  spacious  enough  for  their  needs,  and  the 

219 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

roof  in  the  centre  was  stronger  than  that  of 
their  old  barabbara.  They  got  some  firewood  to 
gether,  and  with  Skookie's  help  piled  the  floor 
under  the  eaves  thick  with  sweet-smelling  grasses 
from  the  flats  near  by.  That  night,  when  the 
Alaska  sun  gradually  retired  for  its  short  rest, 
they  sat  around  a  brightly  burning  fire  in  the  in 
terior  of  their  castle  and  ate  the  heartiest  meal 
they  had  known  for  some  time.  It  was  then 
that  Rob  produced  a  surprise  for  the  others. 

"Now  we  have  got  some  of  our  old  dried  bear 
meat,"  said  he.  "I  suppose  it's  good,  but  it 
doesn't  look  it  now — and  a  little  salt  whale  and 
plenty  of  fresh  codfish  and  salmon;  and  Skookie 
has  got  some  of  those  white  mock  radishes  of 
his,  of  which  we  don't  know  the  name.  But  it 
seems  to  me  that  everything  runs  to  meat.  How 
would  you  like  to  have  some  onions?" 

"Onions!"  exclaimed  Jesse;  and  "Onions!"  re 
peated  John  after  him.  "Nothing  would  be  bet 
ter,  but  we  haven't  got  any." 

Rob  produced  from  behind  his  back  a  small 
sack  which  they  found  contained  a  few  of  these 
precious  bulbs,  most  valued  of  almost  any  vege 
table  in  the  far  north. 

"Where    did    you   get    those?"    asked    John. 
"They  certainly  didn't  grow  here." 
220 


CRIPPLES'   CASTLE 

"No,"  said  Rob;  "I  found  this  little  sack  hid 
den  back  under  the  klipsies  in  the  far  end  of  the 
old  barabbara  up  there.  I  suppose  some  native 
hid  it  there  when  they  came  down  in  the  bay 
after  their  whale.  Anyhow,  we  have  been  on 
meat  diet  so  long  that  I  will  take  the  liberty 
of  using  these,  no  matter  whom  they  belong  to. 
Of  course  we're  not  living  much  on  salt  meat, 
but  even  if  we  don't  get  scurvy  we  ought  to  have 
all  the  vegetables  and  green  things  we  can  get 
hold  of.  Now,  onions  mayn't  smell  as  nice  as 
some  things,  but  there's  no  better  medicine  in 
this  sort  of  life." 

"  Leave  them  to  me,"  said  John,  who  had  grown 
to  be  quite  a  good  cook,  perhaps  by  reason  of  his 
natural  inclination  for  good  things  to  eat.  "I'll 
make  a  stew  of  them  with  some  of  that  bear  meat 
and  some  of  Skookie's  bulbs  here.  I'll  bet  we'll 
have  the  finest  meal  to-night  we  have  ever  had 
on  the  island."  And  so  they  all  agreed.  Late 
that  night  they  rolled  up  in  their  bedding  on  the 
grass  beds  of  their  new  house,  and  soon  slept 
soundly  within  close  reach  of  the  waves  of  the 
sea,  whose  steady  sound  along  the  beach  came 
to  them  far  more  plainly  here  than  had  been  the 
case  at  the  older  barabbara. 

After  this  the  boys  used  this  new  house  more 
221 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

than  the  older  house,  and  little  by  little  moved 
most  of  their  belongings  down  there,  although 
they  still  kept  their  flag-staff  up  on  the  upper 
beach  in  the  hope  that  some  passing  vessel  might 
come  into  their  bay  and  see  their  signal. 


XXVI 

THE  JOURNEY  AND  THE  STORM 


ve  ^o  a  n°°n>  sa*    °>  one  m°rn~ 

ing  not  long  after  they  had  finished  their 
new  barabbara,  "that  if  we  were  asked  about 
this  big  island  where  we  are  living  we  couldn't 
tell  very  much  regarding  it.  We've  only  been 
over  a  little  strip  of  country  around  here.  I  don't 
suppose  we've  ever  been  more  than  five  or  six 
miles  from  camp  yet,  even  when  we  climbed  high 
est  in  the  mountains  beyond  the  creek.  Yet  we 
can  see  over  thirty  miles  of  country  from  here. 
I'd  sort  of  like  to  have  a  trip  up  one  of  those 
other  valleys."  He  pointed  a  hand  to  the  farther 
shore  of  the  bay  which  lay  before  their  gaze,  level 
and  calm  as  a  mirror. 

"That's  what  I've  thought  more  than  once, 
too,"  said  Jesse.  "Why  not  make  an  exploring 
expedition  over  there?" 

"We  couldn't  do  it  and  get  back  in  time  for 
supper,"  demurred  John. 
223 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"No,"  smiled  Rob,  "but  we  could  have  sev 
eral  suppers  over  there.  Why  not  go  across  and 
camp  out  a  night  or  two,  and  just  rough  it  a  little 
bit?  You  can  see  that  there  are  pine  woods  on 
the  mountains  over  there,  and  wherever  there  is 
pine  it  is  always  comfortable  camping.  We  could 
take  some  grub  along,  of  course,  and  our  rifles." 

"How'd  we  sleep?"  asked  Jesse.  "It  has  a 
way  of  raining  in  this  country  every  once  in 
awhile." 

"Well,"  said  Rob,  "we  could  sit  under  a  tree 
if  we  had  to.  I  don't  suppose  we  could  make  a 
bark  shelter,  and  we  have  nothing  that  would  do 
for  a  tent;  but  we  have  our  kamelinkas,  and  the 
blanket  we  made  out  of  the  sea-parrot  breasts. 
We'd  get  along  somehow.  What  do  you  say, 
Skookie?" 

Skookie  grinned,  understanding  what  was  on 
foot.  "All  light— all  light!"  he  said. 

"Agreed  then,  fellows,"  said  Rob.  "And  we'll 
start  this  very  morning,  because  the  bay  is  per 
fectly  calm  and  there  seems  no  danger  of  rough 
weather.  It  '11  be  cold  up  in  the  mountains,  so 
we'll  take  one  blanket  for  each  two  of  us,  and 
those  that  don't  carry  blankets  will  carry  grub. 
We  two  will  take  our  rifles,  John,  and  Skookie 
the  axe.  We'll  get  on  famously,  I  am  sure." 

224 


THE  JOURNEY  AND  THE  STORM 

The  boys  began  to  put  out  the  different 
articles  on  the  ground  for  packing.  "Now  we 
don't  want  to  make  our  packs  too  heavy/7  said 
Rob.  "The  best  way  to  pack  is  with  a  pair  of 
overalls." 

"How  do  you  mean?"  asked  John. 

"Well,  you  put  all  your  things  down  on  a  piece 
of  canvas  or  something,  and  you  lash  it  tight  with 
a  rope,  making  a  bundle  about  twice  as  long  as  it 
is  wide,  so  that  it  will  lie  lengthwise  on  your 
back.  You  put  your  cord  around  each  end,  and 
then  around  it  all  lengthwise.  Now  you  take 
your  pair  of  overalls  and  straddle  the  legs  across 
the  lengthwise  rope  until  it  comes  to  the  cross 
rope  around  the  lower  end.  Then  you  take  the 
ends  of  the  legs  and  spread  them  apart  at  the 
other  cross  rope,  wide  enough  for  your  shoulders 
to  go  in,  leaving  enough  of  the  legs  for  shoul 
der-straps.  Then  you  tie  the  ends  of  the  legs 
fast  to  the  cross  ropes  with  small  cords.  There 
you  are  with  the  best  kind  of  pack  straps,  which 
don't  weigh  anything  and  don't  cut  your  shoul 
ders.  The  legs  of  the  overalls  are  soft,  you  see. 
Big  Mike  showed  me  how  to  do  this,  back  home. 
He  used  to  pack  two  sacks  of  flour  up  the  Chil- 
koot  Pass  on  the  snow." 

"Yes,"  said  Jesse,  "I've  heard  about  that  way, 

225 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

and  seen  men  pack  that  way,  too.  There's  only 
one  thing  that  makes  me  against  it  now." 

"What's  that?"  asked  Rob,  thoughtlessly. 

"We  haven't  got  the  overalls!" 

Rob's  face  fell  as  he  rubbed  his  chin.  "That's 
so,"  he  admitted,  "we  haven't!  And  our  trousers 
are  getting  pretty  badly  worn  and  wouldn't  do 
for  pack  straps.  I  suppose  we'll  have  to  cut  strips 
of  seal  leather  or  take  a  piece  off  our  bear  hides. 
Well,  we  won't  make  the  packs  heavy,  anyhow, 
and  we'll  take  it  slow  and  easy." 

Within  an  hour  they  had  stowed  their  equip 
ment  in  the  dory  and  pushed  off,  all  of  them  row 
ing  and  paddling.  They  thought  they  would  soon 
be  across  the  bay,  whose  opposite  shore  looked 
quite  close;  but  they  were  somewhat  startled  to 
see  how  long  it  took  them  actually  to  make  the 
distance,  which  must  have  been  some  six  or  eight 
miles.  The  bay,  however,  remained  quiet  and 
their  progress  was  steady,  although  they  were  all 
very  tired  by  the  time  they  landed  on  the  opposite 
beach,  at  the  mouth  of  the  valley  which  they  pur 
posed  to  explore. 

"  It  seems  wilder  over  here,"  said  John.  "  Look 
how  rough  the  mountains  seem  and  how  thick  the 
timber  is  on  above  there.  And  I  don't  see  any 
barabbara  over  here." 

226 


THE  JOURNEY  AND  THE  STORM 

"  There's  something  that  looks  like  one,  back 
from  the  beach  a  little  way,"  said  Jesse,  pointing 
out  what  seemed  like  a  low  heap  of  earth.  They 
went  over  and  found  it  to  be,  indeed,  the  ruins  of 
an  old  barabbara,  which  looked  as  though  it  had 
not  been  occupied  for  a  lifetime.  The  roof  had 
fallen  in  and  the  walls  were  full  of  holes,  so  that 
it  was  quite  unfit  for  occupancy.  They  left  it 
and  passed  up  the  beach,  where  they  saw  the  ruins 
of  several  other  houses,  no  doubt  occupied  by 
natives  very  long  ago.  Beyond  this  a  short  dis 
tance,  not  far  from  a  deep  path  which  was  worn 
in  the  tundra  by  the  wild  game,  they  saw  a  num 
ber  of  rude  posts  standing  at  different  angles, 
loosely  embedded  in  the  soil,  and  in  some  in 
stances  fallen  and  rotting  in  the  grass.  Some  of 
these  had  rude  cross-arms  at  their  tops,  others 
two  cross-arms,  the  lower  one  nailed  up  at  a 
slant.  The  boys  regarded  these  curiously,  but 
Skookie  seemed  anxious  to  move  on. 

"Why,  what's  up,  Skookie?  What's  the  mat 
ter?"  asked  Rob.  "What  do  these  posts  mean, 
that  look  like  crosses?" 

"Dead  mans  here — plenty,  plenty  dead  mans, 
long  time,"  said  Skookie.  "No  mans  live  here 
now.  I'm  not  like  dis  place." 

"Why,"  said  Rob,  "they're  graves,  and  these 
227 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

are  crosses — I  think  that  one  with  the  double 
arms  must  be  one  of  the  old  Russian  crosses. 
Was  there  ever  a  village  here,  Skookie?" 

The  Aleut  lad  nodded  his  head.  "Long  times, 
my  peoples  live  here  some  day.  Russian  mans 
come  here,  plenty  big  boats;  plenty  shoot  my 
peoples.  Dose  Russian  mans  make  church  here, 
show  my  peoples  about  church.  Bime-by  Rus 
sian  mans  go  way.  Bime-by  my  peoples  get  sick, 
plenty  sick ;  all  die,  all  dead  mans  here.  My  peo 
ples  go  way,  never  come  back  no  more.  I'm  not 
like  dis  place."  He  shuddered  as  he  looked  at  the 
grave  posts,  and  was  eager  to  go  on. 

"That  must  have  been  seventy-five  years  ago," 
commented  Rob.  "Perhaps  small-pox  killed  off 
the  villagers  who  built  this  little  town.  See,  the 
wind  and  the  weather  have  polished  these  posts 
until  they  are  white  as  silver.  Well,  I  don't 
know  but  I'm  ready  to  go  on  myself." 

Shouldering  the  packs  which  they  had  put  down 
when  they  paused  for  their  investigation,  they 
took  their  way  on  up  the  ancient  trail  made  by 
the  bears  and  possibly  once  beaten  by  human 
feet.  Once  they  came  upon  the  fresh  trail  of  a 
giant  bear  which  had  passed  the  night  before,  ac 
cording  to  Skookie,  but  as  the  animal  had  swung 
off  to  the  left  and  out  of  their  course,  they  made 
228 


THE  JOURNEY  AND  THE  STORM 

no  attempt  to  follow  it;  and  if  truth  be  told,  they 
seemed  now  so  far  from  home  in  this  new  part  of 
the  country,  and  were  so  depressed  by  the  thought 
of  the  abandoned  village,  that  something  of  their 
hunting  ardor  was  cooled  for  the  time.  The  walk 
ing  across  the  mile  of  meadow-like  tundra  was 
hard  enough,  and  they  were  glad  when  they 
reached  the  rockier  bank  of  the  stream  which 
came  down,  broad  and  shallow  in  some  places, 
narrow  and  tumbling  in  others.  Here  sometimes 
they  waded  in  the  water  to  escape  the  tangled 
thickets  of  alder  interspersed  with  the  prickly 
"devil's  club,"  peculiar  to  all  Alaska — a  fiendish 
sort  of  plant  covered  with  small  spines,  which 
grows  in  all  fantastic  shapes,  but  which  manages 
to  slap  one  somewhere,  no  matter  where  one  steps 
upon  it,  and  whose  little  prickly  points  detach 
themselves  and  remain  in  the  flesh.  Our  young 
explorers,  however,  were  used  to  Alaska  wilder 
ness  travel,  and  they  took  all  of  this  much  as 
matter  of  course,  pushing  steadily  on  up  the 
valley  until  they  reached  a  fork,  where  to 
the  right  lay  rather  better  going  and  larger 
trees. 

They  concluded  to  bear  up  the  right-hand  can 
on,  and,  pausing  only  for  a  bit  to  eat,  about  the 
middle  of  the  afternoon,  they  had  perhaps  gone 

229 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

six  or  eight  miles  from  the  sea-shore  when  they 
concluded  to  camp  for  the  night. 

They  were  now  at  the  foot  of  a  dense  mountain 
forest,  where  the  shadows  lay  thick  and  cold,  and 
there  seemed  something  sinister  in  the  silence  all 
about  them.  None  the  less,  they  soon  had  a  good 
camp-fire  going,  and  with  the  axe  they  proceeded 
to  make  a  sort  of  lean-to  shelter  out  of  pine 
boughs.  Rob  picked  out  a  place  near  a  big 
fallen  log,  drove  in  two  crotches  a  little  higher 
than  his  head,  and  placed  across  them  a  long 
pole;  then  from  the  log  to  this  ridge-pole  they 
laid  others,  and  thatched  it  all  with  pine  boughs 
until  they  had  quite  a  respectable  house.  On 
the  floor  they  spread  out  a  deep  bed  of  pine 
boughs,  and  so  sat  back  under  their  shelter,  with 
their  fire  roaring  and  crackling  in  front  of  them; 
and  all  agreed  that  they  had  a  very  comfortable 
camp.  Pretty  well  worn  out  by  the  hard  work 
of  the  day,  for  their  packs  and  rifles  had  grown 
unspeakably  heavy,  they  ate  their  supper  of  dried 
meat  and  smoked  salmon,  and  so  curled  up  in 
their  blankets,  too  tired  to  stay  awake. 

The  next  morning  they  were  up,  feeling  much 
more  courageous  after  their  good  rest. 

"I  think  it  might  be  a  good  plan,"  said  Rob, 
"to  leave  one  of  the  grub  packs  here;  and  if  we 

230 


THE  JOURNEY  AND  THE  STORM 

camp  farther  on  to-night,  and  decide  to  go  yet 
deeper  into  the  island,  to  leave  a  little  grub  at 
each  camp,  of  course  swung  up  so  that  nothing 
can  get  at  it  to  eat  it." 

"How  far  do  you  want  to  go?"  asked  John, 
whose  legs  were  rather  short,  and  who  was  feel 
ing  a  little  stiff  after  his  first  day's  travel. 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  answered  Rob,  "but  if 
you  fellows  agree,  I'd  be  for  going  at  least  a  day's 
march  farther  up  this  valley.  It  '11  be  colder,  and 
it  '11  be  harder  climbing,  but  the  footing  will  be 
better  and  we  can  take  our  time.  I'd  like  to  see 
if  there  isn't  some  sort  of  a  pass  up  here,  the  other 
side  of  which  leads  down  into  the  interior.  I've 
always  heard  that  the  arms  of  the  sea  came  pretty 
near  cutting  this  island  in  two,  along  about  the 
middle  somewhere.  We  might  have  to  take  a 
look  over  on  the  other  side  of  the  island  some 
time,  if  we  stayed  here  five  or  ten  years,  you 
know!" 

The  other  boys  looked  sober  at  this  sort  of  a 
jest,  but  pluckily  agreed  to  go  on  for  at  least  one 
more  day.  This  they  did  not  regret,  for  they 
found  themselves  now  in  a  country  savoring  more 
of  the  mountains  than  of  the  sea.  Snow  lay  just 
above  them,  but  the  tops  of  the  mountains  seemed 
fairly  open.  Their  little  valley  had  a  steady 

16  231 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

ascent,  although  by  this  time  its  watercourse 
had  dwindled  to  a  stream  over  which  they  could 
step  as  they  pleased.  Along  the  stream  there 
showed  the  inevitable  trail  of  the  giant  Kadiak 
bears  which  for  hundreds  of  years  had  made  these 
paths  over  all  the  passes  down  to  the  streams. 
Fresh  bear  signs  the  boys  saw  in  abundance,  but 
did  not  stop  to  hunt. 

Once,  as  they  crossed  their  stream,  they  passed 
the  mouth  of  a  short,  steep  little  ravine  which 
opened  down  into  the  valley.  Here  Rob's  eye 
detected  something  white.  Stepping  over  in  that 
direction,  he  called  the  others.  "Look  here, 
fellows,  here's  a  great  big  bear  skull  all  by 
itself!" 

They  stood  about  this  object,  which  certainly 
was  enough  to  puzzle  them.  There  it  lay,  entire 
ly  stripped  of  all  flesh,  and  very  white,  although 
the  bone  was  not  badly  bleached  by  the  elements 
as  yet.  There  was  not  the  sign  of  any  struggle 
anywhere  about,  nor  was  there  the  least  particle 
of  any  other  bones.  They  searched  for  the  re 
mainder  of  the  skeleton  of  the  animal,  but  found 
nothing  of  the  sort  anywhere  about.  There  lay 
the  grinning  skull,  far  up  here  in  the  mountains, 
with  nothing  to  tell  whence  it  came  or  how  it 
happened  to  be  there. 

232 


THE  JOURNEY  AND  THE  STORM 

"My,  wasn't  it  a  whale!"  exclaimed  Jesse. 
"See,  it's  almost  as  long  as  my  arm.  I'll  bet  its 
eighteen  or  twenty  inches  long,  measured  as  it  is. 
But  what  could  have  killed  it?  Nothing  could 
kill  a  bear  except  another  bear;  but  that  wouldn't 
account  for  the  head  being  here  all  alone.  Skookie, 
what  do  you  think  about  this?" 

"My  peoples,  maybe  so,"  said  Skookie. 

"Your  peoples?  Why,  I  thought  you  said  no 
one  lived  over  on  this  side.  And  we've  seen  no 
signs  of  hunting  here  anywhere." 

Skookie  went  on  to  explain.  "S'pose  my  peo 
ples  hunt.  Kill  big  bear.  Some  mans  take  hide, 
some  mans  take  meat,  some  mans  take  head. 
Dis  head  not  good  for  eat,  but  very  much  heavy. 
Some  mans  get  tired,  lay  it  down  here;  maybe  so 
birds  eat  um  all  up  but  bone." 

"But  how  long  ago  did  all  this  happen,  Skoo 
kie?"  asked  John. 

"I  dinno." 

"And  where  did  the  hunters  come  from?" 
asked  Rob. 

"I  dinno.  Maybe  so  Eagle  Harbor,  maybe  so 
Old  Harbor." 

"Which  way  is  Old  Harbor,  Skookie?"  asked 
Rob,  suddenly. 

The  lad  pointed  back  across  the  mountains, 

233 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

beyond  the  bay,  and  beyond  their  camp  on  the 
farther  side.  " Plenty  far/'  he  said. 

"Then  which  way  is  Eagle  Harbor — I  suppose 
you  mean  a  native  village." 

"Eagle  Harbor  dis  way."  And  Skookie  point 
ed  across  the  head  of  the  pass  toward  which  they 
were  travelling  up  the  valley. 

"How  far?"  demanded  Rob. 

"I  dinno,"  answered  Skookie;  "plenty  miles, 
maybe  so.  My  peoples  live  Old  Harbor." 

Rob  studied  for  a  moment.  "I'll  bet  that  if 
we  kept  on;"  said  he,  "until  we  came  to  the  top 
of  this  divide,  we'd  find  the  head  of  a  river  run 
ning  down  the  other  way.  Like  as  not  it  would 
go  to  some  bay  where  Eagle  Harbor  village  is. 
Well,  that  makes  the  island  seem  not  quite  so  big. 
Come  on,  let's  go  on  up  to  the  top  of  this  pass, 
anyhow." 

So  they  plodded  on,  but  did  not  reach  the  sum 
mit  that  night,  nor  did  they  find  any  further  so 
lution  to  the  riddle  of  the  lost  bear  skull,  which 
latter  Rob  left  in  the  trail,  intending  to  pick  it 
up  on  their  return,  although  Skookie  seemed  to 
be  averse  to  this  perf ormance ;  owing,  no  doubt, 
to  some  of  his  native  superstitions.  That  night 
they  camped  high  up  in  an  air  which  was  very 
cold,  so  that  they  shivered  before  morning,  al- 
234 


THE  JOURNEY  AND  THE  STORM 

though  their  fire  of  little  logs  had  not  yet  burned 
out. 

By  noon  of  the  next  day,  two  camps  out  from 
the  sea,  and  at  a  distance  of  perhaps  twenty-five 
miles  or  more,  they  reached  what  was  plainly 
the  divide  between  this  valley  and  another  lead 
ing  off  to  the  northwestward.  Here  they  paused. 
Before  them  stretched  a  wilderness  of  upstanding 
mountain  peaks  into  which  there  wound  the  nar 
row  end  of  a  new  valley,  widening  but  slightly  so 
far  as  their  eyes  could  trace  it. 

"Eagle  Harbor  that  way,  Skookie?"  asked 
Rob,  leaning  on  his  rifle  and  looking  out  over  the 
wild  sea  which  lay  before  him. 

"I  dinno,"  said  Skookie. 

"How  far  do  you  think  it  is?'7 

"I  dinno." 

The  Aleut  lad  was  truthful,  for  neither  he  nor 
any  of  his  family  had  ever  crossed  the  island  here, 
and  he  knew  nothing  of  what  lay  ahead.  Plainly 
uneasy  now,  Skookie  had  had  enough  of  travel 
away  from  camp.  "Maybe  go  back  now?"  he 
asked  Rob,  inquiringly. 

"I  suppose  so,"  replied   the  latter,  "although 

I'd  jolly  well  like  to  go  over  in  here  a  little  farther. 

I've  a  notion  we'd  come  out  somewhere  closer 

to  Kadiak  town;  and  maybe  we'd  run  across  some 

235 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

native  who  would  take  us  in.  But  there  doesn't 
seem  to  be  any  game  except  once  in  a  while  a 
ptarmigan — those  mountain  grouse  that  strut  and 
crow  around  here  on  the  snow,  and  aren't  big 
enough  to  waste  rifle  ammunition  on.  Maybe 
it's  safer  to  go  back  to  our  camp  and  wait  for  a 
month  or  so  more  at  least.  What  do  you  say, 
fellows?" 

The  others,  who  were  very  tired  and  a  little 
uneasy  at  being  so  far  from  what  was  their  near 
est  approach  to  a  home,  voted  for  the  return. 
So,  after  a  rest  at  the  summit,  where  cutting  winds 
soon  drove  them  back,  they  shouldered  their 
lighter  packs  and  began  to  retrace  their  way 
down  the  valley  to  the  sea. 

Now  they  did  not  have  to  build  any  shelters 
for  the  night  and  could  use  their  old  camps.  They 
found  that  their  appetites  were  increased  by  their 
hard  work,  so  that  after  the  last  camp  they  had 
little  left  to  carry  except  their  blankets  and  guns, 
although  Rob  manfully  insisted  on  carrying  out 
the  great  bear  skull,  which  he  found  quite  heavy 
enough  before  the  end  of  the  journey. 

When  at  last  they  left  the  mountains  and 
crossed  the  tundra  to  the  deserted  village  near 
which  they  had  left  their  dory  moored,  they  saw 
that  a  change  had  come  over  the  weather.  In  the 

236 


THE  JOURNEY  AND  THE  STORM 

north  a  black  cloud  was  rising,  and  the  surface  of 
the  bay,  although  little  broken  by  waves  so  far 
as  they  could  see,  had  a  steely  and  ominous  look. 

"Maybe  so  rain  bime-by,"  said  Skookie. 

Rob  studied  the  bay  and  the  sky  for  some  time. 
"What  do  you  say,  boys?"  he  asked.  "Shall  we 
try  to  make  it  across  to-night?  I  don't  like  the 
look  of  things  out  there,  and  you  know  it's  a  long 
pull." 

"Well,"  said  John,  "I'm  for  starting  across. 
There's  no  place  to  stop  here,  and  I  don't  like 
this  place  any  more  than  Skookie  does,  anyhow." 

Jesse  agreed  that  they  might  probably  better 
try  to  make  their  home  camp,  as  their  supplies 
were  low,  and  since,  if  stormy  weather  came,  it 
might  be  a  long  time  before  they  could  cross  the 
bay. 

"All  right,  then,"  said  Rob;  "but  we've  got  to 
hurry." 

Skookie  also  was  plainly  nervous.  They  rushed 
the  dory  from  its  moorings,  and  all  taking  oars 
and  paddles,  gave  way  strongly  as  they  could. 
At  that  time  there  were  no  waves  of  consequence, 
only  a  long,  slow  motion  like  the  pulse  of  the  sea 
which  came  down  from  the  outer  mouth  of  great 
Kaludiak  Bay.  The  wind  had  not  yet  risen,  al 
though  steadily  the  twilight  seemed  to  thicken. 
237 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

For  three-quarters  of  an  hour  they  made  good 
progress.  Then  they  noticed  that  their  boat  be 
gan  to  pitch  a  little,  and  small,  choppy  waves 
raced  by.  A  strong  slant  of  wind  was  coming 
down  from  another  valley  farther  toward  the 
mouth  of  the  bay,  opposite  which  they  passed, 
when  they  left  at  one  side  the  long  spit  of  land 
which  had  served  as  shelter  to  their  part  of  the 
inner  bay. 

Evidently  the  wind  was  freshening.  A  fine 
spindrift  settled  on  the  farther  side  of  the  bay, 
so  that  at  times  their  own  shore  was  cut  out  from 
view  for  many  moments.  Night,  too,  was  now 
coming.  Without  a  word  the  boys  bent  to  their 
oars,  thoroughly  alarmed.  Rob  and  Skookie  were 
perhaps  the  calmest  of  the  four,  and  Rob  under 
took  to  do  what  he  could  to  encourage  his  com 
panions. 

"One  thing  you  want  to  remember,  boys," 
said  he,  "and  that  is  that  one  of  these  dories  will 
stand  almost  as  much  sea  as  a  ship,  if  you  handle 
her  right.  We'll  keep  her  quartering  into  the 
waves,  and  will  keep  on  rowing  all  night  if  we 
have  to.  Never  mind  where  we  strike  the  shore 
on  the  other  side — we  won't  try  to  come  out  just 
at  our  camp.  I  only  hope  we  can  make  it  above 
the  mouth  of  our  creek,  because  if  we  go  below 
238 


THE  JOURNEY  AND  THE  STORM 

that  point  we  might  drift  twenty  miles,  clear  to 
the  far  end  of  the  bay.  Don't  pull  too  hard  now 
and  get  fagged,  but  keep  up  a  steady  lick.  Jesse, 
you'd  better  get  in  the  stern  and  let  John  and 
Skookie  each  pull  an  oar.  I'll  take  the  other 
pair.  Get  your  tin  pail  ready,  Jesse,  and  if  we 
take  in  any  water,  keep  it  bailed  out  the  best 
you  can." 

The  others  were  plucky,  although  every  one 
was  anxious.  The  little  crew  kept  sturdily  at 
the  oars,  facing  what  was  a  situation  serious 
enough  to  daunt  even  the  strongest  men.  These 
Alaskan  storms  are  dangerous  even  to  the  most 
powerful  vessels,  and  no  coast  in  the  world  has 
a  longer  record  of  shipwreck  and  lost  vessels  of 
which  no  trace  ever  is  found. 

When  once  fairly  out  in  the  middle  of  the  bay, 
the  boys  got  a  notion  of  the  power  of  the  sea  such 
as  they  never  before  had  known  in  their  lives  and 
thought  never  again  to  repeat.  Clouds  now  ob 
scured  the  sky.  The  wind  increased  steadily, 
coming  in  directly  from  the  mouth  of  the  great 
bay,  and  bringing  with  it  all  the  power  of  the 
mighty  Pacific  Ocean.  As  these  young  advent 
urers  looked  over  their  shoulders  it  was  a  truly 
terrifying  spectacle  which  mot  their  gaze. 

In  steady  succession,  a  few  moments  apart, 
239 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

there  came  down  into  the  bay,  apparently  reach 
ing  from  side  to  side  across  it,  long  black  hills  of 
water,  great,  roller-like  waves  which  did  not  break 
but  came  in  black  and  oily.  Each  one,  as  it  tow 
ered  above  the  little  boat,  seemed  about  to  engulf 
it,  but  in  some  way  the  splendid  little  dory  found 
its  way  up  the  side  and  across  the  crest;  and  then 
they  would  see  the  great,  silent  black  hill  of  water 
swing  on  into  the  bay  and  pass  out  of  sight,  only 
to  be  followed  by  another.  The  wind  was  not 
yet  strong  enough  to  break  the  tops  of  the  waves, 
and  fortunately  the  tide  was  coming  in,  so  that 
there  were  no  rips,  which  would  surely  have 
swamped  their  little  craft. 

"Keep  on  pulling,  boys!"  cried  Rob.  " We're 
doing  finely.  She  rides  these  big  waves  like  a 
duck.  She's  a  splendid  boat!" 

Skookie  did  not  say  anything,  but  once  in  a 
while  cast  an  anxious  eye  toward  the  head  of  the 
bay. 

"Is  it  all  right,  Skookie?"  asked  Rob. 

"I  dinno,"  answered  Skookie,  and  bent  again 
to  his  oar. 

"So  long  as  the  sea  doesn't  break,"  said  Rob, 
"we  can  ride  these  rollers  all  right.  It's  when 
she  goes  white  that  you  want  to  look  out." 

Perhaps  this  was  precisely  what  Skookie  had 

240 


THE  JOURNEY  AND  THE  STORM 

feared.  Within  three  minutes  after  Rob  had 
spoken  what  he  had  dreaded  actually  occurred. 
They  were  riding  steadily  up  toward  the  top  of 
a  long,  oily  wave  whose  leeward  side  was  quite 
unbroken,  when,  just  as  they  reached  the  top, 
the  wind  seemed  to  tear  the  crest  of  the  wave  into 
shreds.  Without  warning,  a  great,  boiling  surge 
of  white,  hissing  water  came  up  all  around  them. 
It  was  as  though  some  angry  spirit  of  the  deep 
had  risen  up  from  below  and  tried  to  pull  them 
down. 

The  white  water  poured  in  over  the  gunwale 
and  half  filled  the  dory,  which  seemed  on  the 
point  of  sinking  before  the  long  wave  crept  away, 
growling,  as  though  disappointed  at  being  baffled 
in  its  purpose. 

Jesse,  who  had  left  the  stern  seat  and  was 
crouched  in  the  bottom  of  the  dory,  uttered  a  cry 
of  affright. 

"Quiet,  there!"  called  out  Rob,  sharply.  "Bail, 
bail  as  fast  as  you  can!  Hurry  up!" 

Thoroughly  frightened,  but  rallying  to  his 
young  commander's  voice,  Jesse  obeyed,  and 
bailed  rapidly  as  he  could,  the  sloshing  water  now 
leaving  him  for  the  bow,  and  now  flooding  him 
to  the  knees  as  it  swept  back  to  the  stern  when 
the  bow  arose.  The  dory  yawed  and  veered  un- 

241 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

steadily.  Had  they  struck  another  piece  of  white 
water  the  end  must  have  come  for  them,  for  their 
craft  would  have  been  beyond  the  control  of  their 
weary  arms.  Good-fortune  was  with  them,  how 
ever,  and  Jesse's  efforts  steadily  lightened  their 
little  ship,  while  the  others  kept  her  headed  up, 
quartering  into  the  long  waves. 

How  long  they  rowed  in  this  heart-breaking 
manner  none  of  them  ever  knew,  but  it  seemed 
many  hours.  No  doubt  it  was  two  or  three  hours 
before  they  began  to  reach  the  shelter  of  the  near 
est  projecting  point  on  the  farther  side  of  the  bay. 
By  this  time  they  were  nearly  worn  out,  their 
arms  trembling,  and  their  faces  pale  from  over- 
exertion,  but  they  dared  not  stop,  and  so  pulled 
on  as  best  they  could.  All  at  once  Skookie  spoke. 

"Karosha!"  he  exclaimed.  "  Pretty  soon  all 
light,  all  light!  I  hear  um  water  over  dar." 

He  meant  that  he  now  could  hear  the  surf 
breaking  along  the  beach  on  their  side  of  the 
bay.  The  roar  of  the  waves  became  plainer  and 
plainer  as  they  pulled  in,  and  now  the  rollers  be 
came  less  gigantic,  and  their  headway  increased 
as  the  wind  was  shut  off  by  the  promontory  at 
the  head  of  their  beach. 

The  sound  of  the  breaking  surf  was  ominous 
enough  of  itself.  In  these  wild  seas  it  is  not 

242 


THE  JOURNEY  AND  THE  STORM 

every  one  who  can  take  in  a  boat  safely  through 
such  waters.  Rob  was  wise  enough  to  ask  counsel 
of  Skookie  in  this  matter,  when  at  last  they  could 
see  the  rim  of  white  water  breaking  madly  along 
the  shingle. 

The  young  Aleut  did  not  seem  much  concerned. 
He  told  them  to  stop  rowing  when  they  ap 
proached  the  first  long  ridge  of  breaking  water, 
and  with  his  own  oars  he  held  the  boat  for  a 
minute,  looking  astern  and  waiting  for  the  right 
instant.  A  great  wave  came  in  toward  them, 
but  just  before  it  broke  Skookie  gave  a  shout  and 
they  all  fell  to  their  oars,  going  in  just  with  the 
crest  of  this  wave  and  keeping  just  ahead  of 
where  it  broke.  Thus  their  boat  was  carried  high 
up  the  beach. 

At  the  right  instant  overboard  went  Skookie 
waist  deep  in  the  surging  white  water.  In  an  in 
stant  Rob  was  out  on  the  other  side.  The  reced 
ing  wave  almost  swept  the  dory  back,  but  they 
held  her;  and  another,  lifting  her  clear  and  carry 
ing  the  boys  off  their  feet  for  a  moment,  flung  her 
yet  farther  up  the  beach  and  at  the  edge  of  the 
high  -  water  mark.  As  she  grounded  this  time 
they  were  all  out  and  helped  run  her  up  high  and 
dry.  Here  they  made  her  fast  by  the  painter  to 
a  jagged  rock  which  projected  from  the  wall  at 
243 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

the  edge  of  the  beach.  Then,  too  tired  to  do  any 
thing  further,  and  trembling  now  in  the  reaction 
which  followed  the  peril  from  which  they  had 
escaped,  they  flung  themselves  panting  on  the 
beach,  with  pale  faces  looking  out  into  the  stormy 
sea  which  thundered  at  their  feet.  They  were 
all  sobered  thoroughly  by  their  experience.  At 
last  Rob  spoke,  standing  up  preparatory  to  the 
walk  down  the  beach  toward  their  old  barabbara. 

"I  know  what  I  thought  out  there  when  she 
broke  under  us,"  said  he;  "and  I  know  what  I 
did,  too." 

"Yes,  and,"  said  Jesse,  as  he  and  the  others 
rose  to  follow  him,  "I  know  what  Pm  going  to 
do  before  I  go  to  sleep  to-night,  too.  I'm  going 
to  remember  my  prayers." 


XXVII 

THE  MAN-HUNT 

FOR  several  days  after  their  fortunate  escape 
from  the  storm  at  sea  the  boys  were  willing 
enough  to  lie  around  their  camps,  resting,  under 
taking  no  labor  beyond  that  necessary  in  getting 
their  daily  food.  About  this  latter  there  was 
rarely  any  difficulty  at  all. 

Of  course,  after  a  time  all  the  birds  in  the 
lagoon  were  easily  frightened  away,  but  once 
in  a  while  during  the  coming  week  the  young 
hunters  repeated  their  hunt  with  the  thongs,  and 
finally  saw  quite  a  heap  of  smoked  goose-breasts 
accumulate  on  their  drying-rack,  where  some  of 
the  bear  meat  still  remained,  as  well  as  a  goodly 
number  of  split  salmon. 

The  gulls'  nests  and  the  salmon  stream  afforded 
their  best  source  of  supply,  each  practically  ex- 
haustless  at  that  season.  The  salmon  came  prac 
tically  to  their  very  door,  and,  provided  as  they 
were  now  with  salt,  there  was  small  excuse  for 

245 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

any  of  them  going  hungry.  So  easy,  indeed,  did 
life  become,  so  far  as  food  was  concerned,  that,  as 
has  been  stated  above,  a  certain  monotony,  not 
to  say  anxiety,  settled  upon  them  all.  This,  how 
ever,  was  one  day  broken  by  an  event  of  most 
startling  interest. 

They  were  following  down  the  salmon  creek, 
with  the  intention  of  taking  a  few  fish  at  the  pool 
near  the  mouth,  when  all  at  once  the  young  Aleut, 
whose  keen  eyes  were  ever  searching  the  country 
both  far  and  near,  paused  and  gave  a  low  exclama 
tion  as  he  pointed  to  the  mud  near  the  banks. 
"Bad  mans  come!"  he  said. 
They  peered  where  he  pointed.  Sure  enough, 
there  was  the  mark  of  a  man's  foot,  evidently  that 
of  a  man  wearing  mukluks,  or  seal  boots.  The 
boys  looked  at  one  another. 

"Him  come,"  said  Skookie,  making  signs  of 
catching  salmon.  He  made  other  signs  of  going 
to  sleep,  putting  his  hands  against  his  cheek  and 
closing  his  eyes,  and  then  pointing  up  the  hills. 
He  pointed  from  the  hills  to  the  creek.  Thus  the 
boys  knew  what  he  meant,  what  they  at  once  sus 
pected  to  be  the  truth — that  their  late  prisoner 
Jimmy  was  hiding  out  in  the  mountains,  and 
coming  down  like  a  wild  animal  to  make  his  liv 
ing  on  the  salmon  run. 

246 


THE    MAN-HUNT 

This  was  a  situation  which  at  once  seemed  to 
them  very  grave. 

"He  has  not  left,  after  all,"  said  Rob,  moodily. 
"I  wish  we  had  him  under  lock  and  key  again. 
The  question  is,  are  we  going  to  catch  him  again, 
or  is  he  going  to  catch  us  first?  That's  what  I 
want  to  know." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  John.  "He's 
free,  and  we  don't  know  where  he  is.  Surely  you 
don't  mean  that  we  ought  to  go  and  hunt  him  up?" 

"I  feel  just  this  way,"  answered  Rob,  "as  I 
always  have  about  anything  of  the  sort — if  there's 
going  to  be  trouble,  let  us  have  it  over  and  done 
with.  For  one,  I  don't  relish  lying  awake  night 
after  night  wondering  if  our  camp  is  going  to  be 
surprised;  and  neither  do  I  like  to  walk  these 
shores  wondering  if  this  fellow  is  going  to  slip  an 
arrow  into  one  of  us  from  the  grass." 

"Wouldn't  we  be  safe  in  the  house?"  asked 
Jesse. 

"We  can't  stay  in  the  house  all  the  time,  and 
we  would  not  be  safe  even  there.  No,  it  looks  as 
though  we  ought  to  go  out  and  hunt  this  fellow 
up  and  see  what  he  is  doing  and  intends  to  do." 

Without  further  words  they  turned  back  tow 
ard  the  house,  followed  by  the  Aleut  boy,  who 
looked  from  one  to  the  other  as  if  wondering  what 

17  247 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

their  words  signified.  This  he  discovered  a  few 
moments  later,  when  Rob  and  John  both  emerged, 
each  with  a  loaded  rifle  under  his  arm. 

"Come  on,"  said  Rob,  and  led  the  way,  splash 
ing  through  the  shallow  water  at  the  foot  of  the 
lagoon  which  separated  them  from  the  mountain 
side  beyond. 

They  climbed  in  silence  for  some  time,  steadily 
ascending  the  steep  face  of  the  snow-capped 
mountain  which  lay  before  them.  Again  they 
saw  the  wonderful  pictures  afforded  by  this  re 
gion,  where  both  ocean  and  mountains  blend  in 
the  landscape.  As  now  and  then  they  paused 
for  breath,  they  turned  to  look  at  the  wonderful 
view  of  the  great  bay,  the  silver  thread  of  the 
lagoon  and  creek,  and  the  low,  round  dot  made 
by  their  hut  upon  the  flat.  Above  them  circled 
many  of  the  great  bald  eagles,  which  occasionally 
departed  for  their  salmon-fishing  in  the  stream. 
Once  or  twice  they  heard  the  sharp  bark  of  a  fox 
concealed  in  the  alder  thickets,  and  as  they  reached 
the  upper  slopes,  where  the  snow  still  lay,  fre 
quently  they  saw  the  mountain  ptarmigan,  at 
this  altitude  still  in  its  white  winter  plumage. 
These  birds,  when  alarmed,  would  fly  but  a  short 
way  and  then  poise  in  the  air,  uttering  a  sharp, 
crowing  cackle,  soon  to  alight  and  stand  motion- 

248 


THE    MAN-HUNT 

less  on  the  snow.  All  these  scenes  of  wild  nature 
were  noted  by  the  boys,  though  perhaps  not  so 
much  as  they  might  have  been  had  they  not  been 
upon  so  serious  an  errand. 

From  time  to  time  they  caught  the  trail  of  the 
fugitive  across  the  snow-field,  where  it  could  be 
seen  for  half  a  mile  at  a  stretch.  Beyond  such  a 
snow-field  they  came  across  the  ashes  of  a  fire 
which  had  been  built  behind  a  clump  of  rocks 
out  of  sight  from  the  beach  below.  There  were 
some  half-burned  bones,  which  showed  that  some 
one  had  cooked  fish  here.  Skookie,  making  the 
sign  of  sleep,  or  night,  held  up  six  fingers,  to  show 
that  it  had  been  that  many  days  since  the  fugitive 
had  been  here. 

They  managed  to  puzzle  out  the  trail  for  some 
distance  up  the  mountains  from  this  point,  but 
finally  lost  it  on  a  bare  rock  ridge  which  thrust 
up  well  toward  the  peak  of  the  mountain  be 
tween  two  snow-fields.  Skookie,  stooping  down 
and  hunting  like  a  dog  among  the  half-bare  rocks, 
slowly  puzzled  out  the  trail  for  a  time.  Evident 
ly  the  man  they  wanted  had  made  a  practice  of 
sleeping  far  back  in  the  mountains.  For  a  time 
they  almost  despaired  of  discovering  him,  until 
at  last  Jesse,  whose  eyes  were  always  keen,  point 
ed  out  what  he  thought  were  tracks  leading  across 

249 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

a  snow-bank  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ahead.  Hasten 
ing  thither,  they  gained  a  half-mile  more  in  their 
pursuit,  but  finally  were  obliged  to  halt  puzzled 
at  a  bare  rim  of  rock,  beyond  which  and  below 
them  lay  a  wide  expanse  of  rough  country  broken 
by  canons  and  covered  by  a  dense  alder  growth, 
the  only  timber  of  that  region. 

In  that  broken  country  hiding  might  have  been 
offered  for  a  regiment,  almost,  it  seemed.  Rob 
suggested  that  it  was  perhaps  as  well  to  return 
to  camp  and  give  up  the  search. 

"Hold  on  a  minute/7  said  Jesse.  "Look  over 
there!  I  think  I  see  something." 

He  pointed  ahead  and  below  at  some  object 
a  half-mile  farther  on.  Presently  they  all  saw  it — 
a  figure  visible  against  the  snow  which  lay  along 
the  edge  of  a  sharp  canon  wall.  A  moment  later 
it  was  lost  as  it  moved  into  the  cover  of  the  alder 
thicket;  but  even  as  they  hesitated  they  saw 
arising  a  thin  wreath  of  blue  smoke,  which  proved 
to  them  that  the  figure  they  had  seen  was  a  man, 
and  no  doubt  the  one  for  whom  they  were  looking. 

Skookie  looked  serious,  his  brown  face  drawn 
into  a  frown  of  anxiety  and  fear. 

"Bad  mans,  bad  mans!"  he  said,  over  and  over 
again,  shaking  his  head. 

"Come  on,  fellows!"  was  Rob's  comment,  and 

250 


THE    MAN-HUNT 

he  plunged  on  down  the  rock  face,  hurrying  to 
get  his  party  out  of  sight  as  quickly  as  possible. 
Once  lower  down,  and  near  the  elevation  of  the 
smoke  at  the  canon  side,  concealment  was  much 
easier,  and  from  this  point  they  stalked  the  hid 
den  fugitive  much  as  they  would  have  done  with 
a  big-game  animal  had  they  been  pursuing  it. 

They  paused  at  last  at  the  rim  of  a  shelving 
rock  which  projected  out  at  the  top  of  the  canon 
wall.  The  smell  of  the  smoke  was  strong  in  their 
nostrils,  and  they  knew  that  they  were  near  the 
end  of  their  hunt.  Somewhere  below  them,  per 
haps  within  a  few  yards  or  feet,  the  fugitive  must 
be  lying;  but,  although  they  peered  over  cau 
tiously,  they  could  see  no  one.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  a  shallow  cavern  existed  directly  under  them 
in  the  side  of  the  canon  wall,  and  it  was  at  the 
mouth  of  this  that  the  Aleut  had  built  his  fire. 

Seeing  no  sign  of  life,  Rob  proceeded  to  dis 
pose  his  forces  with  the  purpose  of  surrounding 
his  man.  He  motioned  to  Jesse  and  the  Aleut 
boy  to  remain  at  the  rim  of  the  canon,  and,  send 
ing  John  to  a  point  below,  he  himself  climbed 
down  on  the  upper  side  of  the  fire.  When  he 
reached  a  point  where  he  could  see  into  the 
mouth  of  the  cave  and  realized  that  very  prob 
ably  this  was  the  abode  of  the  escaped  Aleut,  he 

251 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

waited  until  he  saw  John  in  position  below,  and 
then  as  they  both  covered  the  mouth  of  the 
cave  with  their  guns  he  gave  a  loud  call : 

"Here,  you,  Jimmy,  come  out  of  that!" 

They  all  heard  a  low  exclamation,  which  as 
sured  them  that  their  man  was  at  home;  but  at 
first  he  refused  to  appear.  Rob  called  out  loudly 
again,  half  raising  himself  above  a  rock  behind 
which  he  had  taken  shelter  against  any  surprise. 

Presently  they  heard  a  voice  raised,  not  in  de 
fiance,  but  in  entreaty.  They  scarcely  recognized 
the  figure  which  limped  to  the  mouth  of  the  cave, 
so  gaunt  and  haggard  did  it  seem.  It  was,  indeed, 
their  late  prisoner,  but  now  bent  and  weak,  as 
though  ill  and  half  starved.  He  held  his  bow 
and  arrows  in  one  hand  over  his  head,  but  the 
bow  was  not  strung.  Evidently  he  intended  to 
surrender  without  any  resistance. 

"Good  mans,  good!"  he  repeated,  beating  on 
his  breast. 

They  closed  in  on  him  now  and  took  away  his 
weapons.  The  Aleut  boy  jabbered  at  him  in  ex 
cited  tones,  apparently  accusing  or  reproaching 
him.  Jimmy  edged  away  from  him  and  looked 
at  the  white  faces  of  the  others,  which  regarded 
him  sternly  but  with  no  apparent  anger.  He 
sadly  pointed  to  his  leg,  which  had  been  injured 

252 


THE    MAN-HUNT 

by  a  fall  on  the  rocks.  Evidently  he  wanted  to 
tell  them  that  if  they  would  take  him  back  on 
the  old  footing  he,  for  his  part,  would  be  glad 
enough  to  come,  if  only  they  would  keep  the 
savage  brown  boy  away  from  him. 

"Now  we've  got  him,"  said  Rob,  at  last,  "and 
what  shall  we  do  with  him?" 

"We'll  have  to  take  him  down,"  said  John. 
"He'd  just  about  die  if  we  left  him  up  here;  and 
I  don't  believe  he'll  make  us  trouble  any  more. 
Besides,  we've  got  Skookie  here  to  watch  him 
now." 

Rob  debated  the  matter  in  his  mind  for  some 
time,  but  finally  agreed  that  Jimmy  would  prob 
ably  make  them  no  more  trouble,  since  he  very 
possibly  was  hiding  out  more  in  fear  of  them  than 
in  any  wish  to  harm  them.  Reasoning  that  one 
or  both  of  these  natives  might  be  useful  in  later 
plans,  he  at  last  held  out  his  hand  to  Jimmy,  and 
with  some  effort  persuaded  Skookie  that  it  would 
be  better  for  him  to  shake  hands  with  Jimmy 
than  to  take  a  rifle  and  shoot  him,  as  the  boy 
seemed  more  disposed  to  do.  He  knew  that  these 
natives  soon  forget  their  animosities. 

Thus  at  length  they  started  down  the  mountain 
along  the  trail,  which  Jimmy  pointed  out,  hob 
bling  along  in  advance.  In  a  couple  of  hours 
253 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

they  were  at  the  top  of  the  high  rock  face  above 
the  mouth  of  the  creek.  Here  Jimmy  paused 
and  anxiously  scanned  the  entire  expanse  of  the 
adjacent  cove  and  the  long  line  of  the  beach  be 
yond.  He  seemed  overjoyed  that  there  was  no 
longer  any  sign  of  the  hostile  party  which  had 
come  in  pursuit  of  him.  At  least  the  boys  guessed 
that  was  what  he  felt,  and  guessed  also  that  he 
had  been  coming  down  to  the  stream  at  night 
and  not  in  the  daytime,  perhaps  thus  sustaining 
the  fall  which  had  hurt  his  leg. 

They  were  hungry  that  night  as  they  cooked 
their  evening  meal  in  the  smoky  barabbara. 

"No  watch  to-night,  boys!"  said  Rob.  "These 
two  friends  can  watch  each  other,  if  they  feel  like 
it,  but  I  think  we  may  sleep  without  anxiety." 

"For  a  prisoner,  it  looks  to  me  that  Jimmy  was 
very  glad  to  be  caught,"  remarked  John. 


XXVIII 

A  HUNT  FOR  SEA-OTTER 

TWO  or  three  days  more  passed  in  this  strange 
situation,  but  nothing  took  place  which  even 
to  Rob's  watchful  eye  seemed  to  indicate  any  dan 
ger  from  either  of  their  Aleut  companions.  In 
the  wilderness  the  most  practical  thing  is  ac 
cepted  as  it  appears,  without  much  argument,  if 
only  it  seems  necessary;  so  now  this  somewhat 
strangely  assorted  company  settled  down  peace 
ably  into  the  usual  life  of  the  place,  until  an  event 
happened  which  brought  them  all  still  more 
closely  together. 

They  were  going  over  to  the  beach  to  see  that 
their  flag-staff  was  still  in  proper  position,  when 
Jesse's  keen  eyes  noted  at  the  edge  of  the  beach 
a  small,  dark  object  which  had  been  cast  up  by 
the  waves.  A  moment's  examination  proved  to 
them  that  this  was  nothing  less  than  a  sea-otter 
cub,  a  small  animal  not  much  larger  than  a  wood- 
chuck,  but  with  a  long,  pointed  tail,  and  covered 

255 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

with  short,  soft  fur.  All  these  boys  had  lived  in 
Alaska  long  enough  to  know  the  great  value  of 
the  fur  of  the  sea-otter,  which  even  at  this  time 
was  worth  more  than  a  thousand  dollars  a  skin. 
They  reasoned  that  since  this  cub  had  come 
ashore  there  might  be  older  otters  about.  The 
cause  of  the  death  of  the  cub  they  never  knew; 
nor,  indeed,  do  even  the  native  hunters  always 
know  what  kills  the  otters  which  they  find  some 
times  cast  up  by  the  waves  on  the  beaches.  Some 
natives  say  that  in  very  cold  winter  weather  an 
otter  may  freeze  its  nose,  so  that  it  can  no  longer 
catch  fish,  and  thus  starves  to  death.  Some,  of 
course,  are  shot  by  hunters  who  never  find  them. 
It  is  customary  for  the  profits  of  such  a  find  to  be 
divided  among  the  tribe  or  family  making  the 
discovery,  and  even  in  case  a  hunter  can  prove 
that  he  has  shot  an  otter  at  sea  which  has  come 
ashore,  the  finder  receives  a  certain  proportion 
of  the  profits,  most  of  the  hunting  done  by  these 
natives  partaking  of  a  communal  nature. 

"This  fur  is  still  good,"  said  Rob,  pulling  at  it. 
"It  hasn't  been  dead  very  long,  so  maybe  its 
mother  is  still  around,  or  its  daddy.  That  would 
be  something  worth  while,  wouldn't  it?  Five 
hundred  to  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  perhaps." 

The  older  Aleut  was  standing  on  the  summit 

256 


A    HUNT    FOR    SEA-OTTER 

of  the  sea-wall,  shading  his  eyes  and  looking 
steadily  out  over  the  waves.  At  last  he  gave  a 
loud,  sharp  call,  in  which  an  instant  later  the 
Aleut  boy  joined.  The  two  ran  first  toward 
the  dory,  which  lay  on  the  sea -beach,  where 
it  had  been  left  after  the  last  voyage  for  eggs, 
but  an  instant  later  they  turned  back  to  the 
lagoon  where  the  bidarka  lay,  and  made  mo 
tions  that  this  should  be  carried  across  and 
launched. 

Rob  and  John  hurried  for  their  rifles.  Jimmy 
caught  up  his  bow  and  arrows,  and  the  Aleut  boy 
his  short  spear.  They  hurried  the  bidarka  across 
the  sea-wall  to  the  open  water  of  the  bay.  Jimmy 
resumed  his  watch  from  the  summit  of  the  sea 
wall.  For  what  seemed  a  half -hour  he  stood 
motionless  and  staring  out  over  the  bay.  Then 
again  he  called  aloud  and,  hurriedly  lifting  his 
bow  string  into  the  notch,  ran  down  to  the  bi 
darka,  motioning  to  Rob  to  take  his  seat  in  the 
rear  hatch. 

"You  others  get  into  the  dory  with  Skookie," 
called  out  Rob,  even  as  the  strong  sweep  of 
Jimmy's  paddle  swept  them  free  of  the  shingle. 

To  launch  the  heavy  dory  was  something  of  a 
task  for  the  younger  boys,  but  in  their  excite 
ment  they  accomplished  it,  so  that  the  two  boats 

257 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

were  soon  out  for  yet  another  of  the  wild  sea- 
hunts  of  this  far-away  coast. 

The  method  of  the  natives  who  hunt  the  sea-ot 
ter  is  to  make  a  surround  with  a  fleet  of  bidarkas, 
much  as  they  hunt  the  whale;  but  this,  of  course, 
was  impossible  now.  None  the  less,  Jimmy,  who 
assumed  the  position  of  master  of  the  hunt,  mo 
tioned  to  the  Aleut  boy  in  the  dory  to  keep  off  to 
the  left,  while  he  and  Rob  circled  far  to  the  right 
in  the  bidarka. 

To  the  Aleut  mind  nothing  approaches  a  sea- 
otter  hunt,  for  it  affords  not  only  the  keenest 
sport,  but  the  greatest  possible  financial  reward. 
The  method  of  the  hunt  is  somewhat  complicated 
in  some  of  its  features.  When  the  otter  dives  the 
boats  gather  in  a  circle,  and  as  soon  as  it  appears 
every  bowman  does  his  best  to  strike  it  with  an 
arrow.  The  first  arrow  to  strike  the  otter  makes 
the  latter  the  property  of  the  lucky  bowman,  who, 
of  course,  knows  his  own  arrow  by  his  mark.  As, 
however,  the  first  arrow  may  not  stop  the  otter, 
the  "  owner,"  as  the  boats  close  in  upon  the  game, 
may  very  probably  call  out  what  he  will  pay  for 
another  arrow  lodged  in  the  body  of  the  otter. 
Instances  have  been  known  where  the  first  bow 
man  has  in  his  excitement  pledged  away  more 
in  arrow-interest  than  the  total  value  of  the  skin 

258 


A    HUNT    FOR    SEA-OTTER 

amounts  to,  so  that  he  is  actually  loser  instead 
of  gainer  by  the  transaction.  The  arrow  closest 
to  the  tail  is  the  one  which  most  prevents  the 
otter  from  diving;  hence  the  value  of  the  arrows 
is  measured  by  the  distance  from  the  tail,  the 
arrow  of  each  man  being  so  marked  that  it  can 
not  be  mistaken. 

All  of  this  etiquette  of  the  otter-hunt  was,  of 
course,  unknown  to  the  white  boys,  whose  main 
interest,  indeed,  was  one  of  sport  rather  than  of 
profit.  They  were  keen  as  the  natives,  none  the 
less,  and  eagerly  watched  every  signal  given  by 
the  leader  of  the  hunt. 

At  last  Jimmy  held  a  paddle  up  in  the  air,  a 
signal  for  the  other  boat  to  slow  down.  A  mo 
ment  later  Rob  spied  the  otter  lying  stretched  out 
motionless  on  the  water  as  though  asleep,  as  in 
deed  likely  was  the  case,  since  that  is  the  method 
of  sleep  practised  by  this  species.  Now,  a  few 
fathoms  at  a  time,  the  native  edged  the  bidarka 
up  toward  his  game,  precisely  as  the  Aleut 
chief  had  approached  the  whale.  The  dory,  no 
longer  rowed  furiously,  but  now  paddled  silently 
by  John  and  Skookie,  approached  on  the  other 
side.  As  they  now  were  on  a  comparatively 
smooth  sea,  and  not  more  than  fifty  yards  from 
the  animal,  Rob  motioned  to  his  companion  to 

259 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

allow  him  to  fire  with  his  rifle,  but  the  latter  em 
phatically  refused.  He  knew  that  an  arrow  safe 
ly  lodged  is  more  sure  to  bring  the  sea-otter  into 
possession  than  a  rifle-ball,  which  might  kill  it, 
only  to  cause  it  to  sink  and  be  lost. 

Jimmy  now  laid  down  his  paddle,  took  up  his 
bow  and  arrows,  and  signalled  to  Rob  to  paddle 
ahead  slowly.  A  few  yards  farther  he  motioned 
for  the  headway  to  be  checked,  and  just  as  the 
bidarka  stopped  he  launched  his  barbed  arrow 
with  a  savage  grunt. 

The  weapon  flew  true !  A  wide  rush  of  bubbles 
showed  where  an  instant  before  the  otter  had  lain. 

Both  otter  and  arrow  had  disappeared,  but  the 
Aleut  sat  waiting  grimly,  although  the  boys  in 
the  other  boat  gave  a  yell  of  exultation.  In  a 
few  moments  the  wounded  animal  showed  a  hun 
dred  fathoms  ahead.  Here,  stung  by  the  pain 
of  the  bone  head,  which  had  sunk  deep  into  its 
back,  it  swam  confusedly  for  a  moment  at  the 
surface.  The  shaft  of  the  arrow  had  now  been 
detached  from  the  loose  head  cunningly  contrived 
by  the  native  arrow-makers,  and  a  long  cord, 
which  attached  the  arrow-head  to  the  shaft,  and 
which  was  wound  around  the  latter,  now  unreeled 
and  left  the  shaft  floating,  telltale  evidence  of 
the  otter's  whereabouts,  even  when  it  dived. 

260 


A    HUNT    FOR    SEA-OTTER 

Jimmy  tried  a  long  shot  as  the  bidarka  swept 
ahead  under  Rob's  paddle,  but  this  time  he 
missed,  and  down  went  the  otter  again.  It  did 
not  dive  deep,  however,  and  the  shaft  of  the  ar 
row  told  where  it  might  be  expected.  As  its 
round  head,  with  bright,  staring  eyes,  thrust  up 
above  the  water,  there  came  the  twang  of  the 
young  Aleut's  bow,  and  the  second  arrow  chugged 
into  the  body  of  the  otter.  Even  the  older  hunter 
greeted  this  shot  with  applause. 

The  otter,  however,  is  hard  to  kill  with  an 
arrow  of  this  sort,  since  its  skin  is  loose  and 
tough.  The  creature  dived  once  more,  but  the 
second  floating  shaft  now  began  to  handicap  its 
motions.  Both  boats  followed  it  from  place  to 
place  as  it  swam.  At  last,  almost  exhausted,  it 
showed  once  more,  and  the  older  Aleut  sent  home 
an  arrow  at  the  back  of  its  head  which  killed  it 
at  once.  He  hauled  up  across  the  bidarka  deck 
the  body  of  the  otter,  a  dark-brown  creature, 
even  at  that  season  fairly  well  furred,  and  in 
weight  about  that  of  a  good-sized  dog. 

Now  and  again  calling  out  in  sheer  exultation 
a.t  the  success  of  this  strange  hunt,  they  all  now 
turned  ashore.  That  day  they  had  plenty  to  do 
in  skinning  the  otter  and  making  a  rude  stretch 
ing-board  for  the  great  skin.  The  boys  were  all 

261 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

astonished  to  see  how  much  larger  it  stretched 
than  had  seemed  possible  from  the  size  of  the 
body  of  the  animal  itself;  but  the  hide  of  the 
sea-otter  lies  in  loose  wrinkles,  so  that  it  may 
bend  and  turn  freely  as  a  snake  when  making  its 
way  in  the  water.  They  found  the  skin  to  be 
more  than  six  feet  long  from  tip  to  tip. 

The  young  friends  engaged  in  some  speculation 
as  to  how  much  the  skin  might  bring  at  the 
Seattle  market.  One  thing  of  value  it  seemed 
to  establish  beyond  doubt — Jimmy  and  Skookie, 
as  they  both  worked  at  fleshing  the  hide,  had 
dropped  their  mutual  suspicions  and  become 
hunting  companions. 


XXIX 

UNCERTAINTY 

MIDSUMMER  came  and  passed,  and  still  no 
sign  from  the  outer  world  came  to  relieve 
the  growing  anxiety  of  the  boys  so  long  marooned 
on  these  unfrequented  shores.  They  had  kept 
very  small  account  of  the  passing  of  the  days,  and 
perhaps  none  of  them  could  have  told  how  many 
weeks  had  elapsed  since  the  beginning  of  their 
unwilling  journey  from  Kadiak.  They  no  longer 
knew  the  days  of  the  week;  and,  indeed,  had  any 
of  their  relatives  seen  them  now,  with  their  shoes 
worn  to  bits,  their  clothing  ragged  and  soiled,  and 
not  a  hat  or  cap  remaining  between  them,  they 
might  have  taken  their  sun-browned  faces  and 
long  hair  to  be  marks  of  natives  rather  than  of 
white  boys  of  good  family. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  however,  that  they  had 
given  up  all  hope,  or  that  at  any  time  they  had 
allowed  themselves  to  indulge  in  despondency. 
Rob  especially,  although  serious  and  quiet,  all 

18  263 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

the  time  was  thinking  over  a  plan.  This,  one  day, 
he  proposed  to  the  others. 

"I  have  resolved,"  said  he,  "that  if  you  other 
boys  agree,  we  will  start  for  home  just  one  month 
from  to-day." 

They  sat  looking  at  him  in  silence  for  some 
time. 

"How  do  you  mean?"  asked  Jesse,  his  eyes 
lighting  up,  for  he  was  the  one  who  seemed  most 
to  feel  homesickness. 

"I  mean  to  start  back  to  Kadiak,  where  we 
came  from!" 

"Yes,  and  how  can  we  tell  which  way  Kadiak 
is?"  inquired  John. 

" I'll  tell  you  how,"  said  Rob.  "We  will  travel, 
of  course,  in  our  dory,  which  will  carry  our  camp 
outfit  and  food  enough  to  last  for  a  great  many 
days,  even  if  we  should  prove  unable  to  take 
any  codfish  or  salmon  along  the  coast." 

"But  which  way  would  we  go?"  insisted  John. 

"The  opposite  of  the  way  we  came,"  smiled 
Rob.  "A  tide  brought  us  into  this  bay.  The 
same  tide  on  the  turn  would  carry  us  out  of  the 
bay.  To  be  sure,  the  wind  may  have  had  much 
to  do  with  our  direction,  but  it  is  only  fair  to 
suppose  that  if  we  came  down  the  east  coast  of 
Kadiak  on  an  ebb  we  would  go  up  that  same 

264 


UNCERTAINTY 

coast  on  the  flood.  At  least,  if  we  could  do  no 
better,  we  would  be  leaving  a  place  where  no 
word  seems  apt  to  get  to  us." 

"It  would  be  a  risky  voyage,"  said  Jesse.  "I 
didn't  like  it  out  there  on  the  open  sea!" 

" There  is  some  risk  in  staying  here,"  was  Rob's 
answer.  "Whether  or  not  those  natives  took  our 
message  to  Kadiak,  they  certainly  will  tell  all  the 
other  villagers  that  we  are  here.  In  time  they 
will  know  we  are  helpless.  It  may  be  only  a 
matter  of  days  or  weeks  before  they  will  come 
and  do  what  they  like  with  us — steal  our  guns 
and  blankets,  and  either  take  us  far  away,  or 
leave  us  to  shift  for  ourselves  as  we  can." 

"Could  we  send  Jimmy  out  with  another  mes 
sage?"  suggested  John. 

"I  doubt  it,"  answered  Rob.  "If  he  wanted 
to  leave  here  he  could  take  the  bidarka  almost 
any  night  and  escape,  but  I  believe  he  is  afraid 
to  leave  the  bay  lest  he  may  be  found  by  some 
of  these  villagers  whom  he  has  offended.  I  don't 
think  Skookie  would  go  anywhere  with  him.  As 
it  is,  one  is  a  foil  to  the  other  here  with  us,  but 
each  is  afraid  of  the  other  away  from  us!" 

"But  don't  you  suppose  that  Skookie's  people 
will  come  back  after  him  sometime?" 

"True  enough,  they  may;  but  who  can  tell  the 

265 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

Aleut  mind?  I  don't  pretend  to.  Of  course,  by 
the  late  fall,  say  November,  when  the  snows  come 
and  the  fur  is  good,  I  don't  doubt  these  people 
will  come  back  here  to  trap  foxes,  for  that  is  evi 
dently  a  regular  business  here;  but  that  would 
mean  that  we  would  have  to  winter  either  with 
them  or  by  ourselves;  and  I  want  to  tell  you 
that  wintering  here  alone  is  an  entirely  different 
proposition  from  summering  here,  now  when  the 
salmon  are  running  and  we  can  go  out  almost 
any  day  and  get  codfish,  not  to  mention  ducks 
and  geese.  Besides,  our  people  would  be  driven 
frantic  by  that  time.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we 
were  lucky  enough  to  make  it  to  Kadiak  we 
would  get  there  in  time  to  find  your  uncle  Dick, 
or  at  least  to  get  a  boat  home  to  Valdez  some 
time  within  a  month  after  we  got  to  Kadiak.  Of 
course,  we  don't  know  anything  about  the  coun 
try  between  here  and  there.  The  whole  coast 
may  be  a  rock  wall,  for  all  we  know." 

"The  steamers  have  government  charts  to  tell 
them  where  to  go,"  mused  John;  " but  we  haven't 
any  chart,  and  we  don't  even  know  in  what  direc 
tion  of  the  compass  we  ought  to  sail,  even  if  we 
had  a  compass." 

"  Before  ships  could  have  charts,"  said  Rob, 
"it  was  necessary  for  some  one  to  discover  things 

266 


UNCERTAINTY 

all  over  the  world.  I  suppose  that's  the  class 
we're  in  now — we're  the  first  navigators,  so  far 
as  help  from  any  one  else  is  concerned.  In 
Alaska  a  fellow  has  to  take  care  of  himself,  and 
he  has  to  learn  to  take  his  medicine.  Now  none 
of  us  is  a  milksop  or  a  mollycoddle." 

"That's  the  talk!"  said  John.  "For  my  part, 
if  Jesse  agrees,  we'll  try  the  journey  back  in  the 
dory.  But  if  we're  going  to  undertake  it  we 
ought  to  begin  now  to  lay  in  plenty  of  supplies." 

"I  have  been  thinking  of  that,"  said  Rob, 
"and  so  I  move  we  begin  now  to  get  together  our 
provisions." 

From  that  time  on  they  all  worked  soberly  and 
intently,  with  minds  bent  upon  a  common  pur 
pose.  They  hunted  ducks  and  geese  regularly 
now,  curing  the  breasts  of  the  wild  fowl  on  their 
smoke  -  rack.  Codfish  they  did  not  trouble  to 
take  for  curing  in  any  great  quantity,  as  they 
knew  they  could  secure  them  fresh  at  almost  any 
point  along  these  shores.  Salmon  they  smoked 
in  numbers,  for  now  the  run  of  the  humpback 
salmon  was  on,  replacing  the  earlier  one  of  the 
smaller  red  salmon.  Part  of  their  dried  bear 
meat,  now  not  very  palatable,  they  still  had  left. 
They  even  tried  to  dry  in  the  sun  some  of  the 
bulbs  which  the  natives  occasionally  brought  in. 
267 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

Their  greatest  puzzle  was  how  they  could  carry 
water,  for,  since  they  knew  nothing  of  the  coast 
ahead,  they  feared  that  they  might  be  obliged 
to  pass  some  time  without  meeting  a  fresh-water 
stream.  At  last  John  managed  to  make  Jimmy 
understand  what  they  required,  and  he,  grinning 
at  their  ignorance,  showed  them  how  they  could 
make  a  water  -  cask  out  of  a  fresh  seal  -  skin,  of 
which  they  now  had  several  from  their  hunting 
along  the  coast. 

"Now,"  said  John,  when  finally  they  had 
solved  that  problem,  "  we've  got  to  have  a  sail 
of  some  sort." 

"And  not  a  piece  of  canvas  or  cloth  as  big  as 
your  hand,"  said  Rob,  ruefully.  "I  admit  that 
a  sail  would  be  a  big  help,  for  we  could  rig  a  lee- 
board  for  the  dory.  Then,  if  the  wind  was  right, 
we  could  get  back  to  Kadiak  in  a  day,  very  likely ; 
for  we  couldn't  have  been  much  more  than  that 
time  in  coming  down  here  without  a  sail." 

It  taxed  John's  ingenuity  as  interpreter  for  a 
long  time  to  make  the  natives  understand  what 
he  now  required.  At  last,  by  means  of  his 
clumsy  attempts  to  braid  a  sort  of  mat  out  of 
rushes  and  grass,  they  caught  his  idea  and  fell  to 
helping  him.  That  week  they  finished  a  large, 
square  mat,  fairly  close  in  texture,  which  they 
268 


UNCERTAINTY 

felt  sure  could  be  used  as  a  square-rigged  sail. 
They  prepared  a  short  mast  and  spars  for  this, 
and  as  they  reviewed  the  progress  of  their  boat 
equipment  they  all  felt  a  certain  relief,  since  all 
of  them  were  more  or  less  familiar  with  boat- 
sailing. 

"I  hate  to  go  away  and  miss  all  the  foxes  we 
could  get  at  the  carcass  of  that  whale  this  fall," 
said  Rob  one  morning,  as  he  stood  at  the  sea 
wall  and  watched  three  or  four  of  these  animals 
scamper  off  up  the  beach  when  disturbed  at  their 
feeding  on  the  carcass.  uln  fact,  I  feel  just  the 
way  we  all  do,  pretty  much  attached  to  this 
place  where  we've  had  such  a  jolly  good  time, 
after  all;  but  we've  got  to  think  of  getting  home 
some  way.  We've  got  our  water-cask  ready,  and 
our  sail  is  done,  and  we've  got  two  or  three  hun 
dred  pounds  of  fairly  good  provisions.  We'll 
pull  the  dory  up  to  the  beach  here  opposite  our 
camp  and  get  her  loaded.  What  time  do  you 
say,  John?  And  what  do  you  think,  Jesse? 
What  time  shall  we  set  for  the  start?" 

John  and  Jesse  stood,  each  breaking  a  bit  of 
dried  grass  between  his  fingers  as  he  talked.  At 
last  John  looked  up. 

"Any  time  you  say,  Rob,"  he  answered,  firmly. 

" To-morrow,  then!"  said  Rob. 

269 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

They  stood  for  a  moment,  each  looking  at  the 
other.  For  weeks  they  had  been  in  anxiety,  for 
many  days  extremely  busy,  most  of  the  time  too 
methodical  or  too  intent  to  experience  much  en 
thusiasm.  Now  a  sudden  impulse  caught  all 
three — the  spirit  of  resolution  which  accomplishes 
results  for  man  or  boy.  Suddenly  John  waved 
his  hand  above  his  head. 

"Three  cheers!"  he  exclaimed. 

They  gave  them  all  together. 

"Hip,  hip,  hurrah!" 


XXX 

"BLOWN  OUT  TO  SEA!" 

MEANTIME,  what  had  happened  in  the  outer 
world  during  all  these  months?  What  had 
been  the  feelings  of  Mr.  Hazlett  on  that  day  in 
early  spring  as,  hour  after  hour,  he  walked  Kadiak 
dock  and  peered  into  the  fog  in  vain,  waiting  for 
the  boat  which  did  not  appear?  And  what  of 
his  feelings  as  all  that  day  and  night  passed,  and 
yet  another,  with  no  answer  to  his  half-frenzied 
search  of  the  shores  close  to  the  town,  of  the 
decks  of  the  still  lingering  steamer,  and  of  the 
surroundings  of  the  Mission  School  across  the 
strait?  None  could  answer  his  questions,  and 
no  guess  could  be  formed  as  to  the  missing  dory 
and  its  crew,  until  at  last  there  were  discovered 
the  two  natives  who  had  rowed  the  dory  away 
from  the  Nora. 

These  told  how  the  boat  had  disappeared  while 
they  were  absent.    They  had  thought  that  the 
boys  had  made  their  way  back  to  town.     Now, 
271 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

finding  that  such  had  not  been  the  case,  they  ex 
pressed  it  as  their  belief  that  when  the  latter  had 
pitted  their  weak  strength  against  the  Pacific 
Ocean  they  had  failed  and  had  been  blown  out 
to  sea. 

" Blown  out  to  sea!"  How  many  a  story  has 
been  written  in  that  phrase!  How  could  this 
anxious  watcher  face  the  parents  of  those  boys 
and  tell  them  news  such  as  this?  At  least  for  a 
time  he  was  spared  this,  for  no  boat  would  go 
back  to  Valdez  within  a  month,  and  those  who 
awaited  news  were  Alaska  mothers  and  knew  the 
delays  of  the  frontier.  None  the  less,  Mr.  Hazlett 
had  borne  in  upon  him  all  the  time  the  feeling 
that  he  himself  had  been  responsible  for  this 
disaster.  Even  as  he  set  to  work  to  organize 
search-parties  he  felt  despair. 

The  natives,  not  clear  as  to  the  instructions 
given  them,  had  supposed  that  they  were  to  go 
in  search  of  the  revenue-cutter  Bennington;  yet 
as  a  matter  of  fact  that  vessel  was  moored  on 
the  western  instead  of  the  eastern  side  of  the 
island  at  the  time,  whereas  it  seemed  sure  that 
the  dory  with  the  missing  boys  must  have  been 
carried  along  the  east  coast  of  the  island,  and  not 
through  the  straits  to  the  westward. 

Mr.  Hazlett  knew  well  enough  the  strength  of 
272 


-BLOWN    OUT    TO    SEA" 

the  outgoing  Japan  Current  here.  A  boat  might 
be  carried  to  Asia,  for  all  one  could  tell  to  the 
contrary,  although  its  occupants  must  long  ere 
that  have  perished  from  hunger  and  thirst.  And 
what  chance  had  a  small  boat  in  waters  so  rough 
as  those  of  this  rock-bound  coast,  risky  enough 
for  the  most  skilled  navigators  and  in  the  best  of 
vessels?  Was  not  all  this  coast-survey  work  in 
tended  to  lessen  the  danger  of  navigation,  even 
for  the  most  skilled  commanders?  What  chance 
had  these,  weak,  young,  and  unprepared,  who 
had  thus  been  thrust  into  such  perils?  All  that 
could  be  held  sure  was  that  the  boys  had  dis 
appeared  as  completely  as  though  the  sea  had 
opened  up  and  swallowed  boat  and  all! 

Duty  now  required  that  Mr.  Hazlett  should  re 
port  on  board  the  Bennington;  so,  after  a  few 
days  spent  in  fruitless  searching  within  reach  of 
Kadiak  town,  he  took  the  pilot-boat  and  hast 
ened  over  to  the  west  side  of  the  island  where 
the  Bennington  lay  at  anchor,  with  her  boat 
crews  engaged  in  the  tedious  work  of  making 
coast  soundings. 

Mr.  Hazlett  laid  before  Captain  Stephens  the 

full  story  of  the  mysterious  loss  of  his  young 

charges.    The  face  of  the  old  naval  officer  grew 

grave,  and  for  some  moments  he  turned  away 

273 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

and  engaged  in  thought  before  he  spoke.  Then 
he  turned  sharply  to  his  executive  officer. 

"Call  in  the  boat  crews,  sir!"  he  commanded. 
"We  move  station  within  the  hour!" 

"Then  you  mean  that  you  are  going  to  help 
search  for  them?"  asked  Mr.  Hazlett. 

"With  all  my  heart,  sir!"  said  the  rough  com 
mander.  "I  have  boys  of  my  own  back  in  New 
England.  We'll  comb  this  island  rock  by  rock, 
and  if  we  suspect  foul  play  we'll  blow  every 
native  village  off  the  face  of  it!" 

The  hoarse  roar  of  the  Bennington's  deep- 
throated  signal  -  whistles  echoed  along  the  rock- 
bound  shore.  Within  an  hour  her  boats  were  all 
stowed,  and  with  each  man  at  his  quarters  the 
trim  cutter  passed  slowly  down  the  west  coast 
of  the  island. 

"I'm  not  supposed  to  be  a  relief  expedition," 
muttered  Captain  Stephens,  "and  I  s'pose  we'll 
all  lose  our  jobs  with  Uncle  Sam;  but  until  we 
do,  I  figure  that  Uncle  Sam  can  better  afford 
to  lose  three  months'  time  of  this  ship's  crew 
than  it  can  three  bright  boys  who  may  grow  up 
to  be  good  sailors  sometime. 

"We'll  skirt  the  island  in  the  opposite  direc 
tion  from  that  in  which  the  youngsters  probably 
went,"  said  he,  turning  to  Mr.  Hazlett.  "We'll 
274 


"BLOWN    OUT    TO    SEA" 

have  to  stop  at  every  cannery  and  settlement, 
and  the  boat  crews  will  need  to  search  every  lit 
tle  bay  and  coast." 

"You  talk  as  though  you  hoped  to  find  them/' 
said  Mr.  Hazlett,  catching  a  gleam  of  courage 
from  the  other's  resolute  speech. 

"Find  'em?"  said  Captain  Stephens.  "Of 
course  we'll  find  'em;  we've  got  to  find  'em!" 


XXXI 

THE   SEARCH-PARTY 

IT  should  be  remembered  that  the  coast  of  the 
great  Kadiak  Island  is  here  and  there  indented 
with  deep  bays,  which  at  one  point  nearly  cut  it 
in  two.  Had  the  boys  known  it,  they  were,  in 
their  camp  near  the  head  of  Kaludiak  Bay,  not 
more  than  thirty  miles  distant  across  the  moun 
tain  passes  to  the  head  of  Uyak  Bay,  which  makes 
in  on  the  west  side  of  the  island,  and  which  was 
the  first  great  inlet  to  be  searched  by  the  boat 
crews  of  the  Bennington.  The  total  coast-line  of 
so  large  a  bay  is  hundreds  of  miles  in  extent,  and 
broken  with  many  little  coves,  each  of  which 
must  be  visited  and  inspected,  for  any  project 
ing  rock  point  might  hide  a  boat  or  camp  from 
view. 

On  this  great  bay  there  were  two  or  three  sal 
mon-fisheries  in  operation,  and  as  these  always 
employ  numbers  of  natives  who  come  from  all 
parts  of  the  island,  Captain  Stephens  had  close 
276 


THE    SEARCH-PARTY 

inquiries  made  at  each;  but  more  than  two  weeks 
passed  and  no  word  could  be  gained  of  any  white 
persons  at  any  other  portion  of  the  island. 

"  Naturally  we  won't  hear  anything  on  this 
side,"  said  Captain  Stephens  to  Mr.  Hazlett. 
"Not  many  natives  from  the  east  coast  come 
over  here  to  work,  and  from  what  I  know  of 
the  prevailing  tides  and  winds  I  am  more  dis 
posed  to  believe  that  they  have  been  carried  off 
toward  the  southeast  corner  of  the  island.  The 
land  runs  out  there,  and,  granted  any  decent  kind 
of  luck,  the  boys  probably  made  a  landing — if 
they  could  keep  afloat  so  far." 

"But  what  may  have  happened  to  them  before 
this?"  began  Mr.  Hazlett. 

"Tut,  man!  We've  all  got  to  take  our  chances," 
replied  the  old  sea-dog.  "They've  done  their 
best,  and  we  must  do  our  best,  too." 

Week  after  week,  hour  after  hour,  and,  as  it 
seemed,  almost  inch  by  inch,  the  cutter  crawled 
on  around  the  wild  coast  of  Kadiak,  tapping  each 
arm  and  inlet,  literally  combing  out  the  full  ex 
tent  of  the  broken  shore-line.  So  gradually  they 
passed  below  the  southern  extremity  of  the  island, 
worked  up  from  the  southeast,  and  one  day  came 
to  anchor  not  far  from  the  native  settlement 
known  as  Old  Harbor.  Here  a  breakdown  to 
277 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

their  machinery  kept  them  waiting  for  ten  days. 
Meantime,  the  boat  crews  were  out  at  their  work. 
One  day  a  young  lieutenant  came  in  and  with 
some  excitement  asked  to  see  the  captain. 

"I  have  to  report,  sir,  that  I  think  we've  got 
word  of  those  boys !"  he  said,  eagerly,  as  he  saluted. 

"How's  that?    Where?    Go  on,  sir!" 

"  There's  a  big  boat  party  back  from  Kaludiak 
Bay,  sir.  They  were  in  there  on  a  whale-hunt 
several  weeks  ago.  They  saw  a  camp  with  three 
white  boys  and  one  refugee  Aleut." 

"  Arrest  every  man  Jack  of  them  and  bring 
them  in!"  roared  Captain  Stephens. 

"Already  done  that,  sir!"  reported  the  lieu 
tenant.  "They  are  in  the  leng-boat  alongside." 

"Then  bring  them  here  at  once!" 

A  few  moments  later  he  and  Mr.  Hazlett  found 
the  deck  crowded  with  a  score  of  much-frightened 
natives. 

"Who's  the  interpreter  here?"  commanded  the 
captain. 

A  squaw-man  who  for  some  years  had  lived 
with  the  natives  was  pushed  forward.  He  was 
none  too  happy  himself,  for  he  expected  nothing 
better  than  intimate  questions  regarding  certain 
wrecking  operations  which  for  years  past  had 
gone  on  along  this  part  of  the  coast. 
278 


THE    SEARCH-PARTY 

"Now  tell  me,"  began  Captain  Stephens, 
"what  do  you  know  about  those  boys  over  there? 
Why  didn't  these  people  bring  out  word  to  the 
settlement?  What  are  you  looking  for  here? 
Do  you  want  me  to  blow  your  village  off  the 
rocks?  Come,  now,  speak  up,  my  good  fellow, 
or  you'll  mighty  well  wish  you  had!" 

Suddenly  Mr.  Hazlett  uttered  an  exclamation 
and  sprang  toward  one  of  the  natives  who  carried 
a  rifle  in  his  hand. 

"That  gun  belonged  to  Jesse,  the  son  of  my 
neighbor  Wilcox  at  Valdez!"  he  exclaimed.  "Tell 
me  where  you  got  it,  and  how!" 

As  may  be  supposed,  it  was  the  Aleut  chief 
whom  he  addressed,  and  the  latter  now  engaged 
in  a  very  anxious  attempt  at  explanation.  He 
declared  at  first  that  the  boys  had  given  him  this 
rifle  as  a  present;  then  he  admitted  that  he  had 
promised  to  take  a  message  up  to  Kadiak,  going 
on  to  say  that  he  had  intended  to  do  this,  but 
that  his  wife  had  been  sick,  that  he  had  been  kept 
at  the  village  by  many  things,  etc. 

"He's  an  old  liar,  without  doubt,"  said  Cap 
tain  Stephens.  "Half  of  this  band  of  natives 
down  here  are  afraid  to  come  to  Kadiak  because 
of  the  debts  they  owe  the  company  store.  They 
are  wreckers,  renegades,  and  thieves  down  here, 

'<>  279 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

and  you  can't  believe  a  word  of  them.  I've  half 
a  mind  to  hang  the  lot  of  them  at  the  yard-arm, 
and  good  riddance  of  them  at  that!" 

The  old  chief  understood  something  of  what 
was  going  on,  and  now  began  to  beg  and  blubber. 

"Me  good  mans!"  he  repeated,  beating  on  his 
chest. 

"He  says  that  he's  got  a  boy  of  his  own  over 
there  with  the  others  in  Kaludiak  Bay.  He's 
got  a  message  written  out  by  the  boys,  but  the 
truth  is  he  was  afraid  to  go  to  town  with  it.  Says 
the  renegade  Aleut  over  there  was  a  good  hunter, 
but  a  dangerous  man — he  stole  their  sacred  whale 
harpoon  here  and  made  away  with  it— 

"But  the  message!"  insisted  Mr.  Hazlett. 

So  at  last  the  old  chief  fumbled  in  his  jacket, 
and  pulled  out  a  soiled  and  crumpled  paper 
nearly  worn  in  bits.  Enough  of  it  at  least  re 
mained  to  show  the  searchers  that  when  it  was 
written  the  boys  were  all  alive  and  well,  and 
were  expecting  help. 

"The  old  fellow  says  he  was  expecting  to  take 
the  paper  up  to  town  sometime  this  fall,"  went 
on  the  interpreter.  "Says  the  boys  had  plenty 
to  eat — fish  and  birds,  and  they  had  killed  three 
bears— 

"Nonsense!"  exclaimed  Captain  Stephens. 

280 


THE    SEARCH-PARTY 

"Yes,  says  they  had  killed  an  old  she  bear  and 
two  cubs,  and  had  the  hides  hung  up — says  the 
Aleut  man  had  run  away  when  they  left — says 
they  all  killed  a  whale  before  they  left,  and  left 
the  boys  as  well  fixed  as  they  are  here  in  this  vil 
lage.  He  can't  understand  why  you  should  be 
anxious  about  them,  when  his  own  boy  is  over 
there,  too.  Says  he  can  take  you  over  there  all 
right  if  you  want  to  go." 

"The  little  beggars!"  said  Mr.  Hazlett,  smiling 
for  the  first  time  in  weeks.  "We  may  get  them 
yet." 

"Get  them?  Of  course  we  will!"  growled  Cap 
tain  Stephens.  "We'll  have  them  aboard  by  this 
time  to-morrow.  Their  camp  isn't  more  than 
seventy-five  miles  from  here  at  most." 

The  whistle  of  the  Bennington  once  more  roared 
out,  and  with  the  rattle  of  her  anchor  chains 
again  the  cutter  pushed  on  up  the  coast,  canying 
with  her,  without  asking  their  consent,  the  entire 
party  of  natives,  who  now  fell  flat  on  the  deck  in 
terror,  supposing  that  they  were  being  carried 
off  to  the  white  man's  punishment  for  native 
misdeeds. 


XXXII 

THE  DESERTED  CAMP 

O  the  plucky  little  dogs  killed  a  bear,  eh?" 
went  on  Captain  Stephens,  as  he  paced  up 
and  down  the  deck.  "I'll  warrant  they've  had 
a  deuce  of  a  good  time  in  there  all  by  themselves, 
and  they'll  be  sorry  to  be  disturbed.  Find  them ! 
Of  course  we  will  —  find  them  fat  as  seals  and 
happier  than  we  are!" 

In  spite  of  all  this  both  he  and  Mr.  Hazlett 
were  uneasy  enough  when  finally  the  Bennington 
steamed  majestically  through  the  narrow  mouth 
of  Kaludiak  Bay  —  the  first  steamer  ever  to 
awaken  the  echoes  there — and  finally  swung  to 
her  anchor  at  a  point  indicated  by  the  Aleut  chief. 

But  to  the  whistle  there  came  no  answer  of  a 
rifle-shot,  no  signal  fluttered,  and  no  smoke  was 
seen.  The  Aleut  chief  now  became  genuinely 
frightened  as  he  pointed  out  the  landing-place  op 
posite  to  the  barabbara,  which,  of  course,  could 
not  be  seen  by  reason  of  the  low  sea-wall. 

282 


THE    DESERTED    CAMP 

The  rattle  of  the  davit  blocks  followed  that  of 
the  anchor  chains  as  a  bow  boat  was  launched. 

"Go  aboard,  Mr.  Cummings!"  said  Captain 
Stephens.  "Take  Mr.  Hazlett  and  this  old  chief, 
and  don't  you  come  back  without  those  boys! 
They're  only  out  hunting  somewhere,  or  else 
they'd  have  a  fire  going." 

As  the  bow  of  the  boat  grated  on  the  shingle 
Mr.  Hazlett  sprang  ashore,  and,  under  guidance 
of  the  Aleut,  hastened  over  the  sea-wall  and  across 
the  flat  to  the  barabbara.  All  was  deserted  and 
silent!  No  smoke  issued  from  the  roof,  and  not 
the  slightest  sound  was  to  be  heard.  No  boat 
appeared  at  the  shore  of  the  lagoon.  The  Aleut 
chief  threw  himself  on  the  ground  and  began  to 
chant. 

Mr.  Hazlett  kicked  open  the  door  of  the  hut 
and  pushed  in,  searching  the  half-dark  interior. 
Only  the  whitened  ashes  showed  a  former  human 
occupancy.  It  was  not  until,  in  his  despair,  he 
had  turned  to  leave  that  he  saw,  fastened  by  a 
peg  to  the  inside  of  the  door,  a  brief  note  on  a  bit 
of  paper. 

"Mr.  Richard  Hazlett,"  it  read.  "All  well. 
We  sailed  about  July  30th.  Love  to  the  folks." 
Signed  to  this  were  the  names  of  the  three  boys. 

"God  bless  them!"  he  muttered.     "They  knew 

283 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

I'd  come!  Why  did  I  not  come  soon  enough! 
But  where  did  they  sail — which  way — and  what 
has  become  of  them?" 

He  turned  to  the  grovelling  native. 

"You  lying  coward!"  said  he.  "Take  me  to 
them  now,  or  by  the  Lord  you'll  swing  for  it! 
Do  you  hear?" 

The  old  man  wept  bitterly.  "My  boys  go,  too," 
he  wailed.  "Bad  mans  go,  maybe  so!  Maybe 
so  all  dead  now!" 

In  answer  he  was  caught  by  the  arm  and  hast 
ened  back  to  the  gravely  waiting  boat  crew.  It 
was  a  saddened  party  which  reported  the  truth 
on  board  the  Bennington. 

"Get  under  way,  Mr.  Cummings!"  ordered 
Captain  Stephens.  "We've  not  lost  them  yet. 
The  writing  is  pretty  fresh  on  that  note.  We 
haven't  passed  them  anywhere  below,  and  they 
must  be  on  their  way  back  to  Kadiak." 

Without  delay  the  Bennington  once  more  took 
up  her  course  and,  emerging  from  the  mouth  of 
Kaludiak,  headed  northward  up  the  east  side  of 
the  island.  Within  ten  miles  the  sharp-eyed 
Aleut  detected  a  flat  bit  of  beach,  and  the  inter 
preter  suggested  that  a  boat  be  sent  ashore  to 
examine  it,  as  it  was  sometimes  used  as  a  camp 
ing  -  place.  When  the  lieutenant  returned  he 
284 


THE    DESERTED    CAMP 

reported  that  he  had  found  poles  cut  not  long 
before  and  used  as  a  shelter  support.  A  fire  had 
been  built  not  more  than  a  week  ago,  in  his  be 
lief.  It  might  or  might  not  be  the  camping-place 
of  the  missing  boys. 

The  face  of  Captain  Stephens  brightened.  "Of 
course  it's  those  boys!"  he  said.  "I  tell  you, 
those  youngsters  are  sailors.  We'll  find  them 
all  lined  up  on  Kadiak  dock  waiting  for  us — and 
me  obliged  to  report  to  Washington  that  I've 
spent  two  months  with  this  vessel  hunting  for 
them!  God  bless  my  soul!"  However,  it  was 
satisfaction  and  not  anxiety  which  caused  his 
eyes  to  glisten. 

Precautions  were  not  ceased,  and  the  boats 
continued  to  comb  out  every  open  bay  which 
could  not  be  searched  with  the  ship's  glasses. 
Finally  they  reached  the  mouth  of  Eagle  Harbor, 
near  the  entrance  to  which  the  boats  discovered 
yet  another  camp-fire,  probably  marking  the 
limits  of  another  day's  journey  of  the  young  voy 
agers. 

"Plucky  little  dogs  —  plucky !"  grumbled  the 
captain.  "They're  not  old  women  like  you,  Haz- 
lett !  They  can  take  care  of  themselves  all  right !" 

The  interpreter  stepped  up.  "The  old  man 
says  there's  a  village  at  the  head  of  this  harbor," 

285 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

he  began.  "Says  there  may  be  a  few  people 
living  there,  though  most  of  them  have  likely 
gone  to  the  fisheries.  He  thinks  the  village  ought 
to  be  examined." 

"Go  in  with  the  boat,  Mr.  Cummings!''  ordered 
Captain  Stephens.  "It  '11  keep  you  overnight. 
As  for  me,  I  don't  dare  risk  the  tide-rips  between 
these  rocks  and  that  big  island  over  there — which 
must  be  Ugak  Island,  I  suspect.  I'm  going  to 
drop  back  and  go  outside  that  island,  and  to 
morrow  I'll  meet  you  thirty  miles  up  the  coast. 
Comb  out  the  bay!  If  the  boys  have  left  the 
village  they've  very  likely  sailed  for  the  opposite 
point  of  this  bay,  and  maybe  you'll  get  word  of 
them  at  one  place  or  the  other." 


XXXIII 

SAVED ! 

IT  was  a  night  of  anxiety  and  expectation  on 
the  Bennington,  and,  as  the  cutter  swung  at 
anchor  north  of  the  bold  and  dangerous  point  of 
Ugak  Island,  every  one  on  board  was  astir  at 
early  dawn. 

"Boat  on  the  larboard  bow,  sir!"  reported  an 
ensign,  soon  after  Captain  Stephens  was  known 
to  be  awake  in  his  cabin. 

"What  boat  is  it?"  inquired  the  latter,  eagerly, 
throwing  open  the  dead-light  of  his  room  and  gaz 
ing  out  along  the  shore. 

"It's  our  boat,  sir,  with  Lieutenant  Cum- 
mings." 

"Any  passengers  aboard?" 

"I'm  afraid  not,  sir." 

The  captain  slammed  shut  the  dead-light  and 
turned  moodily  to  his  desk.     He  did  not  seem 
to  enjoy  the  breakfast  which  one  of  the  cook's, 
men  presently  brought  to  him. 
287 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"Tell  Lieutenant  Cummings  to  report  as  soon 
as  he  comes  aboard/'  he  commanded. 

Lieutenant  Cummings,  however,  far  from  being 
discouraged,  was  much  elated  when  he  appeared, 
smiling,  at  the  captain's  door. 

" They  slept  at  the  village,  sir,"  he  said.  "  Five 
persons  in  all.  Everybody's  gone  from  the  vil 
lage  but  one  or  two  old  people,  and  these  report 
that  the  boys  came  in  there  for  water  and  to  see 
what  news  they  could  get.  They  had  a  young 
native  boy  with  them  and  a  full  -  grown  Aleut. 
They  put  him  in  irons— 

uPut  him  in  irons!"  roared  Captain  Stephens. 
"God  bless  my  soul!  Those  young  rascals  will 
be  sending  out  to  look  after  us  before  long! 
Sailors! — and  they've  got  a  man  in  irons!" 

"They  say  the  Aleut  was  afraid  to  go  to  town," 
resumed  the  lieutenant,  "and  tried  to  escape. 
They  halted  him  and  kept  him  under  guard  all 
night.  The  five  of  them  left  yesterday  about 
noon,  and  as  they  were  seen  not  far  from  the 
mouth  of  the  bay  toward  evening,  they're  very 
likely  camped  not  far  around  the  point  yonder,  sir." 

"Get  under  way!"  ordered  Captain  Stephens. 
"I've  got  a  little  professional  pride  about  this 
thing,  and  I  don't  want  those  youngsters  to  beat 
the  Bennington  into  port!  Full  speed  ahead!" 

288 


SAVED! 

Half  an  hour  later  the  Bennington  poked  her 
nose  around  the  next  bold  promontory  of  the 
east  coast  of  Kadiak.  One  more  broad  bay  lay 
before  them. 

Tossing  up  and  down  on  the  waves,  half-way 
or  more  across,  was  a  small,  dark  object! 

The  eyes  of  the  old  Aleut  were  first  to  discover 
this,  and  he  began  to  shout  and  gesticulate  as 
several  pairs  of  glasses  were  turned  upon  it.  Old 
Captain  Stephens  broke  out  in  a  string  of  nautical 
ejaculations,  which  need  not  be  printed  in  full. 
"Look  at  that!"  he  cried.  "Talk  about  sailors! 
See  'em  go!  They  wouldn't  reef  a  point  if  they 
could — and  I  guess  they  can't,  for  they  seem  to 
have  a  board  or  something  for  a  sail.  And 
they've  got  leeboards  down.  They've  got  two 
oars  out  for  steering-gear.  By  the  great  horn 
spoon!  Cummings,  crack  on  more  steam  or 
they'll  beat  us  to  New  York!  Why,  dash  my 
eyes,  Hazlett,  you  old  woman,  didn't  I  tell  you 
you  couldn't  lose  those  boys?" 

The  gentleman  whom  he  addressed  smiled 
rather  crookedly  but  could  find  no  speech. 

The  whistle  of  the  Bennington  roared  out  three 
times  in  salute.  At  once  the  distant  dory  came 
about  and  laid  a  long  tack  to  intercept  the  course 
of  the  cutter.  In  a  few  minutes  she  was  within 

289 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

hailing  distance.  The  crew  of  the  Bennington 
were  along  the  rail,  and  without  orders  they 
greeted  the  young  sailors  with  a  cheer. 

"By  gad!"  said  Captain  Stephens,  turning 
away.  "It's  worth  a  couple  of  months  of  Uncle 
Sam's  time  to  see  a  thing  like  that.  There's 
where  we  get  our  men  !  Safe  ?  Humph !" 

Rob,  John,  and  Jesse,  all  ragged  and  bare 
headed,  stood  up  in  the  pitching  dory,  calling  out 
and  waving  their  hands.  First  they  passed  up 
their  prisoner,  and  an  instant  later  they  were  on 
board  and  in  the  middle  of  excited  greetings. 
These  over,  they  hurriedly  explained  the  events 
covering  the  strange  situations  which  have  been  re 
counted  in  our  earlier  pages.  Meantime,  Skookie 
was  standing  silently  and  stolidly  at  the  side 
of  his  father,  who  made  no  such  great  excite 
ment  over  him.  The  boys  now  introduced  him, 
with  the  highest  praise  for  his  faithfulness 
and  a  plea  that  something  be  done  for  his  re 
ward. 

"So  far  as  that  is  concerned,"  said  Mr.  Hazlett, 
"every  decent  native  concerned  in  this  shall  have 
more  than  justice  done  to  him.  I'll  put  the  boy 
into  the  Mission  School  at  Wood  Island,  if  he 
likes,  and  he  shall  have  all  the  clothes  he  needs, 
and  something  besides.  It's  lucky  for  this  bunch 
290 


SAVED! 

of  natives  that  we  don't  put  them  all  in  jail.  How 
about  this  man  they  tell  me  you've  been  keeping 
prisoner?"  continued  Uncle  Dick. 

" Please,  sir,"  said  Rob,  earnestly,  "don't  be 
hard  with  him.  I'm  not  sure  that  we  understand 
all  about  the  way  these  natives  think.  He  tried 
to  get  away  from  us,  and  we  tied  him  up  because 
we  needed  him  as  a  pilot.  We  didn't  know  the 
way  back  to  town,  you  see,  because  when  we 
came  down  the  coast  it  was  all  in  a  fog  and 
we  couldn't  see  anything." 

"Rather  risky  pilot,  from  what  I  hear,"  com 
mented  Uncle  Dick. 

"I  believe  he  was  more  scared  than  anything 
else,"  went  on  Rob.  "He  never  really  made  us 
any  trouble,  and  he  did  a  lot  of  work  for  us  for 
which  we  have  promised  him  pay.  We've  got  to 
keep  our  word  to  all  these  people,  you  know. 
But,  if  you  please,  we'd  rather  pay  money  to 
them  than  to  give  up  our  rifles;  and  we'd  like 
Jesse's  rifle  back." 

"That  will  be  easy,"  said  Uncle  Dick.  "All 
these  people  will  count  themselves  fortunate. 
But  what  a  lot  of  them  we'll  have  to  ship  back 
down  the  coast  to  Old  Harbor — I  suppose  we'll 
have  to  charter  a  schooner  for  that!" 

"I  say,  Uncle  Dick,"  broke  in  John,  eagerly, 

291 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 

"if  you  send  a  schooner  down,  couldn't  we  boys 
go  along  with  her?" 

Uncle  Dick  looked  at  him  quizzically  for  a 
moment. 

"You  could  not!"  he  answered,  briefly. 


THE    END 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


t      l4,ct'56FH 

A_l_t_A        .f       -*        Ji-ij-ij-i. 

REC'D  LD 

AUG  1  1  1980 

OCT  11  1956 

FFB     2  1D3G  (V 

Ci    t    r 

,x  —  r 

MAR  8   'bb-.-oPi' 

-   -  - 

fiEG'DLD  i>EP7     ' 

72  -1Z  PM  2  8 

R£C.ctaJi)Li  &'SQ 

LD  21-100m-6,'56 
(B9311slO)476 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


U.  C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


M18528 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


